Crimson Revenge
by Bookreader777
Summary: *Sequel to Light and Dark-Set after Arkham City* It has been a year and five months since Jason Todd has died, and the Bat Family seems just as broken up as it was so many months ago. When both Bludhaven and Gotham are threatened with the arrival of a mysterious new villain, Dick and Jasmine reluctantly team up and find themselves entangled in a game of betrayal, hurt and revenge.
1. Chapter 1

Crimson Revenge

Chapter 1

"We should be safe here! There's no way she tracked us!" A man spoke between heavy pants, leaning back against the brick wall of the alleyway building. A metal case was pulled against his chest. His partner, another man, had his hands on his knees and was breathing just as heavily.

"You know, I actually miss Gotham when it was just Robin and Batman you had to watch out for." The partner said between pants.

"Tell me about it. Even Batgirl and Nightwing as a pair was better than this." The man scowled.

"Yeah, but I heard Nightwing returned back to Bludhaven in mere days afterward Robin died," His partner said, straightening up his torso as his breath began to calm down.

"Which was a relief until Batgirl upgraded and the Bat got a new sidekick," The man grumbled, pushing off from the wall, "Well, let's get going. Penguin is going to have our asses if we're late delivering the product."

"Right, and we're already behind by ten minutes." His partner groaned. The two began to make their way forward, when a batarang embedded into the ground in front of them.

"Long time no see, boys." A feminine voice rang out, and a figure melted out of the shadows.

Her suite was black and skintight, though a red bat was plastered on her chest. A red belt hung at an angle around her hips, and a black and red cape swept behind her. Her mask covered the majority of her face except for the lower half. Her long light brown hair was left unattended as it came down to about the middle of her back. The most intimidating part about her was the two whips that hung at her waist. The two men took a wary step back, cussing under their breath. How she had gotten past their group of men quickly enough to follow them, they had no idea. In fact, it had seemed rather impossible that she would have been able to.

"Batwoman…what a pleasant surprise." The man spoke, his hand slowly travelling to his gun and she seemed to peer at him before a thin smile curved on her lips.

"I'm sure it is. Now, I believe you have something of interest. You can either hand it over to me, or you can choose to take an alternative path, and trust me boys, you won't like the alternative." She said calmly, though her voice had an undertone of warning in it.

"Hmm…what do you say Rodney?" The man asked, looking at his partner with a light smile, who snickered and met his eyes.

"I say we make a third path." He spoke, and the two immediately drew their guns and aimed it at Batwoman…only for her to already be gone.

"W-What?! Where the hell did she go?" The man burst out, his eyes scanning the area in front of him feverishly for any sign of the vigilante. Rodney, his partner, did the same. They had only looked away for a second, and now she was gone.

"Now that was rather rude." A voice came from behind them, and just as they spun around, her fist made contact with Rodney's temple, making him crumple to the ground. The man backed away, raising his gun at her.

"Stay back!" He spoke sharply and she sighed, starting to walk towards him anyways.

"We both know that's a futile and cliché line to say." Batwoman said in a bored tone. The man grits his teeth then fires his gun at her three times. Almost immediately, his attacker had drawn her cape up over herself, and the bullets hit the cape…then pinged to the ground lightly. Her eyes peered at the man from over the cape before she struck forwards, closing her black gloved hand around his throat and shoving him back against the wall.

"Tell me the information I want to know, and I'll spare you the hospital visit." She said lowly and he scowled at her. His action only made her tighten her hand around his throat and he gasped for a breath that didn't come, dropping the metal case and clawing at her hand. Her grip eventually loosened and he sucked in a deep breath, filling his oxygen deprived lungs and collapsed to the ground as she let him go. Glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, he saw Batwomen pick up the case, seeming to study it and he smirked.

"Bombs away," He snarled hoarsely, pulling a little remote from his pocket and pressed a red button.

Batwoman glanced at him, only for the case to begin beeping and she cussed, dropping it then quickly drawing her cloak around herself just as the thing exploded. The impact of the blast caused her to fly to the side and the man staggered to his feet and began to run off. Sure, he had to destroy the product, but Penguin would be more pissed if he had let it fall into Batwoman's hands. His boss had big plans, and he didn't need some bitch dressed as a bat to meddle in his affairs.

As the man disappeared from the alleyway, Batwoman let out a small groan as she slowly rose to her feet, using the wall as support for a moment. That definitely had not gone as planned. Thankfully, her cape was not only made of a strong enough material that stopped most bullets, but was also fireproof. The dangerous part of the bomb hadn't even touched her. Now, the force of the explosion was what had made her fly back, and really, she would have been fine if her head hadn't hit the ground before she rolled across the ground. She was a little discombobulated at first, but slowly regained her focus back to its full capacity. * _Good. I shouldn't have a concussion then._ *

Looking to where the man had run, she sighed lightly before pulling her tracker out, seeing the red dot making its way through the slums and getting closer and closer to Penguin's club. When she had him pinned to the wall, she placed the small tracking device on the inside of his jacket. Of course, he had been more focused on the fact that he couldn't breathe to realize she had placed it there. Before making her way after Penguin's man, she walked over to the one she had knocked out and rolled to the balls of her feet as she crouched down before him. She rolled him over, spotting one of her little trackers on the hood of his jacket. She took it back then deactivated it before placing it back into her utility belt. It was always good to recycle weapons if possible. Quickly binding the guy, she then dragged him over to the entrance of the alleyway so he could easily be spotted by police before running off towards Penguin's nightclub.

It had been a while since the fat oaf had really done anything worth investigating. Batwoman hadn't even bothered to look in the case, since the explosion had torn apart the top of it, and the contents, from what she had seen, were completely undistinguishable at this point. Plus, she didn't have the time to check it thoroughly. She needed to listen in on Penguin if she could. Whatever he was planning, it seemed like it was going to be rather extravagant.

The nightclub soon came into view, and Batwoman paused in the shadows before pulling her batclaw out and used it to shoot herself up to the roof. She landed on the edge in a crouch before silent making her way to the hatch in the roof. Quickly, but also quietly, she opened it and peered down. Faint jazz music came from the opening. It exited out onto a small balcony. It seemed there wasn't anyone there or around it. The only residents were in the center, gathered around a large table with guns resting on top of it. Penguin was there, two of his henchmen at his sides. Before him sat someone that Batwoman didn't know. He seemed laidback, as he was leaning in his chair. A brown leather jacket was settled over his shoulders with a black shirt beneath it. He wore black cargo pants and black combat boots as well. He twirled a gun around his finger in a bored, careless manner. What really distinguished him was the full red helmet he wore.

Batwoman silently slipped down and landed in a low crouch on the balcony, her feet not even making a sound. However, the red helmeted man slowly tilted his head straight in her direction, and the gun twirling around his finger came to an abrupt stop. Her eyes widened a little and she frowned deeply. Could he have…seen her? His head hadn't been turned towards her, and she didn't make a sound. Even the roof hatch shouldn't have drawn attention.

"What is it, Red Hood?" Penguin demanded, turning his head in the direction Batwoman was hiding, though his eyes skimmed over her location, telling her that he didn't spot her location.

"Nothing at all. Everything is going as planned." The man called Red Hood spoke before sitting up more in the chair. "You have come into contact with Blockbuster in Bludhaven, correct?" He spoke, turning his attention back to Penguin and resumed twirling the gun around his finger. His voice was altered by the helmet, making it untraceable.

"Everything except that my men haven't arrived." Penguin said in annoyance, then smirked slightly, "Of course I have. He seemed interested."

"Good. As long as he remains to be manipulated, Nightwing will believe him to be the true opponent, giving one less vigilante to worry about. Gotham and Bludhaven should be yours in the endgame if it plays out as I have planned." He spoke simply, only for the doors to swing open, making the two men look over. The man from earlier burst into the room, and Batwoman smirked slightly. She beat him here and he even had a head start. How amusing.

"Where is the product?" Penguin demanded, and Red Hood tapped his fingers on the table slowly.

"I-I had to destroy it. Batwoman…she came and intercepted us." He said between breaths and Red Hood could be heard sighing.

"Bummer." He spoke, only to raise the gun and shoot the man in the head. He collapsed to the ground lifelessly and Penguin shot to his feet angrily.

"You don't have the power to kill my men! Remember who is paying you for your services, Hood!" Penguin barked and the shooter turned to him rather lazily before spreading his hands innocently.

"Trust me, you're going to be glad that I shot him." He spoke, soon rising to his feet and walking to the dead man. He bent down then pulled Batwoman's tracking device from the inside of his coat and held it up, "The idiot led Batwoman here."

Penguin muttered angrily to himself before crossing his arms over his chest, "When should the pest arrive?" He demanded and Red Hood tilted his head to the side slightly before pushing his hands in his pockets.

"Hell if I know. She could be on her way, or already be here." He spoke in a calm voice, his head tilting up and Batwoman could swear he was staring right at her, even though she couldn't see his eyes.

"You aren't worried?! If the bitch overheard anything-" Penguin began to say but Red Hood cut him off.

"I told you, Cobblepot. I know how to defeat the vigilantes of this city. They hardly pose a threat." He said sharply, and Batwoman smirked humorlessly. * _That's what he thinks. Just wait till he meets me._ *

"I'm putting my bets on you, Red Hood. You better be right about that." Penguin spoke lowly and Red Hood let out a laugh and turned to him.

"Or else what? You aren't exactly in the position to be making the threats. I'm the one with the plans and the guns. If I were you, I'd be more careful in what you say around me." He said, his tone taking a dark and amused tone as he slowly took a step towards Penguin, "You and this plan are nothing without my services."

Batwoman watched as Penguin took a step away as Red Hood advanced before straightening up and clearing his throat, as though trying to recover the pride he had most likely lost from the small interaction. "Search around the building for Batwoman." He ordered his henchmen.

"No need. I already found her." Red Hood, spoke then rose both guns lightning fast, aimed directly at her.

Batwoman cussed under her breath and quickly grabbed her cloak and drew it in front of her as two shots rang out. Both hit the cloak, and her eyes widened. Two small holes were put into the fabric…which meant that the guns were not only extremely powerful, but the bullets were crafted excellently as well. Rising to her feet, she quickly threw a batarang at Penguin and Red Hood, which embedded in the ground between them before dispelling black smoke. Batwoman didn't waste any time using her batclaw to escaping through the roof hatch once more, then ran across buildings, sticking to the shadows. When no advances made themselves known after a few blocks of running, she came to a stop before turning around and gazing the way she had come. No one seemed to be following her, which raised suspicion all in itself. Speaking of suspicion…

* _That Red Hood guy…how did he find my spot so quickly? No one is able to find me that fast except for possibly Bruce. Then when he shot at me…he only shot twice. It seemed like a lack of effort._ * She thought to herself with a deep frown before shaking her head.

* _I can ponder this later. Right now, I need to take care of business. Penguin and Red Hood mentioned targeting Bludhaven. That means I need to contact…_ * Batwoman's thoughts trailed off and crossed her arms over her chest. He was the last person she wanted to contact, but in a situation such as this, it would be stupid to keep the information she knew from him. At least, the part concerning him. Pressing a button, her motorcycle pulled up and she hoped down from the roof then swung her leg over the vehicle and placed her black helmet on.

"Call Nightwing." She instructed, since the helmet had its own connecting device, and she took off towards the Batcave. The call kept ringing until it timed out and she scowled. * _Typical._ *

"Call Dick Grayson." She spoke, annoyance sparking in her voice. Once again, the phone rang but had no answer.

"That bastard. Looks like I have to do this the long way." She grumbled angrily to herself, speeding through the streets of Gotham then all the way to the Batcave, where she parked the motorcycle then got off, pulling the helmet off her head and setting it on the seat. Batwoman then pulled her mask off.

Jasmine Quinn ran her fingers through her hair as she walked to the elevator leading back up to the manor. Being 20 years old, going on to 21 in October, which was only a month away, she still looked the same as she had the year before except for the length of her hair and the coldness of her eyes and personality. Her height remained 5'4, and if anything, she had gotten even more in shape than she had been being Batwoman. Bruce had given her the new alias after she completed a large case against Two-Face without any assistance, and had actually saved Bruce from being killed himself. The new suit was a lot more upgraded that the Batgirl suit, which came in handy when people were shooting at her and for gliding across large rooftop gaps since the cape acted as makeshift wings, much like Batman's did.

Once the elevator reached the manor, Jasmine stepped out and made her way to her room, which she immediately entered. The room itself was orderly, with the note-stocked books placed in neat piles on a desk and in a bookshelf. She began to undress from her suit before pulling on dark blue skinny jeans and nice wine red shirt. To finish off the outfit, she drew a black leather jacket over her shoulders before pulling on a pair of black boots. Of course, her whips were immediately attached to her waist. Deciding she looked acceptable, she walked to her desk where she opened a drawer and sighed quietly, gazing down at the contents.

All the objects stashed inside were small little memories of her first month as Batgirl, every single one more painful than the last. A few pictures here and there were placed on the bottom, her first batarang rested on top of the pictures along with the pill bottle she had obtained from the dead drug addict on her first solo mission. A solo mission that ended up never being completed. Now that she thought about it, she never did use the key Catwoman gave her. Dick had found another alternative in when he saved her from being tortured. * _It wasn't like he actually wanted to save me though. It probably would have made him happy if Joker had decided to kill me._ * She thought to herself bitterly before her eyes rested on the two objects that were laying on top of the small pile. They were a key and a note saying _Just in case you ever stop by_.

Sighing lightly, Jasmine picked up the key and looked at it as the cool metal rested on the palm of her hand. Her eyes narrowed as a small prick of pain burst in her chest, causing her to grit her teeth and clench the key into her first tightly until it dug into her skin painfully. She hardened her composure and shoved the key into her pocket, the small little shred of pain slowly dissipating into the coldness she had built within herself. It was the sound of footsteps that cause her to turn her head slightly.

"You're going out again, aren't you?"

Jasmine shifted her eyes over, her gaze resting on a boy with a buzzcut and sky blue eyes. "Yes," She spoke shortly, turning and started to slowly walk to the door. However, the boy stepped into the doorway, blocking her path. A small shred of annoyance ran through her, and she looked down at him coldly.

"Get out of my way."

"Where are you going?"

"Out," She snapped, shoving him back. The boy stumbled backwards enough to open up the doorway before he regained his balance, but it was enough. Jasmine stepped outside of her room and began to walk down the hallway.

"Jasmine, stop this. You need to stop disappearing every night! Everyone worries-" He began and she paused midstep before cutting him off, turning her head to the side only slightly.

"I very much doubt that anyone worries, Tim. Besides, I don't remember asking for your permission, let alone needing it." She spoke thinly before resuming walking down the hallway, though this time; Tim didn't call out to her.

Tim Drake was the newest Robin. He had replaced Jason in a whopping five months of him being declared dead. As of now, he has been training under Bruce for a year, and already, Jasmine would admit, he has grown strong. The seventeen year old showed true potential for not having been trained in fighting for all his life until he was accepted as Robin. The kid was also wicked smart, and had detective skills that were coming close to being on par with Bruce's. In fact, he had figured out Batman and Robin's identities at a young age when Bruce and Dick had still been the dynamic duo. It had been Dick who brought Tim forward in recommendation to be the new Robin in one of his rare visits. While both Jasmine and Bruce had been skeptical, Bruce had eventually agreed to let him undergo training, though it had taken a lot of convincing on Dick's part. Jasmine had been a different story, and had expressed her dislike in taking a new Robin only five months after Jason had perished, though what she thought hadn't really contributed. Of course, that had been a year ago, and during that time, Jasmine has learned to accept the boy as Robin, though that didn't mean she had to be friendly with him.

Jasmine made her way down to the actual garage of Wayne Manor. It wasn't every day that she actually came down there. Typically when she wanted or needed to go somewhere, it was during the night and her identity was Batwoman, not Jasmine Quinn. Now, during her stay, it was practically impossible to hide that she was living there. So, Bruce had made a story and changed her name to reference her in public, since they didn't need Harley to even suspect him of being Batman. He was able to keep her face off of the press, so she never appeared in pictures. In a way, Jasmine supposed she was living three different lives, but she didn't care all that much. As long as she was able to continue fighting for the good of the people, then she could deal with whatever came her way.

Jasmine walked to an actual motorcycle and picked up the helmet that was resting on the seat. Bruce would probably be pissed she left and took one of his vehicles without permission, but it wasn't like she was going to crash it. Besides, she needed it. Getting to Bludhaven using the Batwing would be rather annoying, and if it was needed during the time she was gone, well, then it was required to be here. Pulling the helmet on, Jasmine swung her leg over the side of the motorcycle and kick started it, making the engine roar to life.

"Where are you headed, Jasmine?"

* _That seems like the question of the day._ *

Sighing, Jasmine turned the engine off then leaned back a little as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking over to see Barbara Gordon at the entrance of the garage. She was sitting in her wheelchair and couldn't enter due to the steps before her, but that didn't make her presence any less noticeable. Since the time of Jason's death, Jasmine and Barbara became rather close, well, closer than they had been. Jasmine pushed everyone away nowadays, and it was rare to get her to have an actual decent conversation. She kept to herself, and she barely spoke or hung around anyone. The teasing and almost arrogant light she used to have seemed to be completely gone with coldness replacing it.

"Bludhaven. Drake told you I was on my way out, didn't he?" Jasmine spoke with a light frown and Barbara narrowed her eyes questioningly at her response of Bludhaven before sighing.

"I'd be lying if I said he didn't. Jasmine, Bruce told you no more sneaking out without telling someone your location." She spoke and Jasmine scowled.

"Yeah. He did. Big deal. I need to get going, Barbara. I'd rather you end my interrogation than having me rudely just cut it short." She said coldly.

"Jasmine! You worry him when you sneak out, especially after Jason-"

"I got it!" Jasmine snapped, cutting her off since she didn't want to hear this talk again when she knew it wasn't true. At least, not concerning her.

"I don't think you do," Barbara sighed before shaking her head, "Why are you going to Bludhaven of all places? I thought you and Dick-"

"Still aren't on good terms, and trust me, I wouldn't be going if I didn't have to," She finished Barbara's sentence, "However, since he refuses to answer his communication device and his cell phone, I have to speak with him in person." She responded, clearly annoyed with the boy.

"Something came up tonight then?" Barbara asked seriously and Jasmine nodded gravely.

"Yeah, and I think it's going to be big. It affects not only Gotham, but Bludhaven too. That's the only reason I'm going."

"Okay, I understand. Good luck with your…meeting then." Barbara said. Jasmine simply nodded before starting up the motorcycle once more.

"Oh, and Jasmine?" Jasmine glanced up at Barbara, who was looking at her with these concerned green eyes, "Please tell us where you're going next time instead of having Tim stumble across you."

Jasmine looked down for a moment before she sped out of the garage. * _Sorry Barbara, but I guess bad habits die hard._ * She thought to herself with a small shake of her head. It wasn't as though Bruce actually cared whether she was missing or not. At least, not for the reasons Barbara thought it was. Even in the beginning, all she had been was a weapon for them to use. In the end, he was more scared of losing her to the criminals than actually losing her as if she were part of his family. She never had been, and never will be. Dick had made then crystal clear back in his room the day they received Jason's death video. Jasmine wasn't going to let her be confined to a domain like her parents had kept her. She was twenty years old, and turning twenty-one. She had the right to make her own decisions and go where she wanted to go, and _no one_ was going to control her. She was her own self, and refused to be under anyone's thumb, let alone rely on someone else. Reliance and trust meant dependency, and there was no way in hell Jasmine was going to let herself become stupid enough to rely or trust someone completely ever again. Not after Dick's betrayal. She wasn't sure she could handle someone else she trusted to twist a knife in her back, so it was easier to just keep the majority of her faith and trust in herself.

She sped through the streets, though kept within the speed limit, since getting stopped by a police officer would be inconvenient, and she simply wanted to get this meeting done. Now that she thought about it, Jasmine hadn't seen Dick for ten months. Whenever she heard he was coming back to Gotham, she made sure to make her avoid any confrontations, and she was damn good at it too. The only reason they saw each other in November was because Alfred said that having a Thanksgiving dinner was mandatory. For everyone, even Bruce. That was the last time she ever saw him. A part of Jasmine wondered if Dick had changed at all in the ten months. While she didn't like to admit it, as much as she hated him now, she still had a few painful feelings for him. She supposed it was hard to redirect feelings like the ones she had expressed for him so long ago, and she wished they would disappear. It would make things, like seeing him, much easier that way.

Since Bludhaven truly wasn't that far from Gotham, thirty to forty-five minutes give or take, it didn't take her too long to make it. The address was already etched in her mind, though finding the apartment would be the problem. She had never been in the city before, let alone in any city or town other than Gotham. Being outside of the boundaries of the place she has lived in all of her life for the first time was thrilling, but it also made her wary. She had no idea where she was going, or where anything was for the first time since she learned the streets and building positions of her home city.

Jasmine searched the downtown area, eventually spotting what seemed to be a welcome center. That place should be able to direct her to where the apartment was. She parked the motorcycle then got off before walking in. It was nice…being able to walk out in the open without the fear of her face getting to her mother, who had gone even more insane after her father's death. The last time she saw her mother…Jasmine pushed the thoughts of it away. She didn't like to think back on that day.

Once she had entered the building, Jasmine had approached a woman behind a desk, who had brought out a map and showed her where to go to get to the location of the apartment. Thanking the lady, Jasmine then left, taking her own little map of Bludhaven just in case, before sitting on the motorcycle once more and started it off. Using the directions she had received, Jasmine soon found herself stopped before an apartment building. It wasn't anything grand, but it wasn't run down or anything either. The place easily blended in, and didn't draw any attention to itself, which was what she had expected it to be like.

Parking then turning the motorcycle off, Jasmine dismounted and pulled the helmet off of her head before placing it on the seat. The visit wouldn't take that long, and she would be gone within a few minutes. With the apartment key in hand, Jasmine walked up to the front door and paused before it, her heart starting to race even though she hated the very fact that it did. * _After all this time, why do I keep reacting like this? It's not like I actually like him anyways.*_ She thought to herself in a kind of bitter defeat. Taking a deep breath, Jasmine pushed the key into the lock and turned it, hearing a small click. She then pushed the door open and stepped into the apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dick Grayson had cut the crime fighting part of his night short. While he knew he probably shouldn't have, the situation arose with the fact that he evidently had a new girlfriend, and it was about time they actually got to spend time together. He had been dating her for almost a month now, and because of him being Nightwing, he always had to make excuses not to meet up, which was really starting to frustrate her. So, today he cut his time being Bludhaven's protector short to fulfill his role in their relationship. Besides, nothing major was happening in Bludhaven at the moment. He had recently finished a large case, and while Bludhaven was notorious, even more so than Gotham at times, it seemed to actually give him a break for once.

Leslie Raine, his present girlfriend, had golden blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was smart, tall, funny and spoke her mind clearly. The only thing that bothered Dick was one thing. There was a large chance that he would lose interest in her after a few months of dating. It sounded terrible and inconsiderate, but it was the truth. Ever since he left Gotham, it took him months to get over...a lot of problems. It didn't take too long for him to regret pushing Jasmine away from him as he had, and still had strong feelings for the daughter of Joker and Harely Quinn. However, Dick had told himself they would eventually fade, and the two of them would move on to other people. After a few months had passed, Dick allowed himself to date once more, but every relationship ended in failure. He was unable to stop thinking about Jasmine, and it honestly wasn't fair to the other women. Once thoughts of her passed, he would allow himself to try again with hopes that they were gone for good, only for the same thing to happen. This time, if his feelings for the blue-green eyed girl arose again, Dick decided to call off dating altogether until he was certain that he had moved past Jasmine. Being stuck on one woman like this was hardly normal for Dick Grayson, who had quite the reputation for being a ladies' man. It was never hard for him to get a girl or charm them, though only three of those many, _many_ relationships had been serious. Well, technically two, but since he had maintained feelings for Jasmine for so long after not seeing or speaking with her, he counted her as one of the "serious" relationships.

It was hard not to worry about Jasmine, who Dick had constantly called Barbara and Alfred about. Well, not only about Jasmine, but everyone else too. He couldn't return to Gotham every day, so calling was effective in getting a few updates. Barbara warned him against coming as well, since apparently, Jasmine had changed…for the worse. According to Barbara, she was cold, snappish, pushed everyone away from trying to get close to her and hardly spoke to anyone. She and Bruce were on shaky terms, and, though she followed orders to train him, she wasn't very close with Tim either. However, Alfred advised Dick to come normally. Alfred spoke about the same news Barbara had, but instead, he had more sympathy when regarding her, saying that she was also terribly distraught, and that in her history, this was her way of dealing with sadness or pain. He also said that it was almost to be expected after what Dick had said to her, since apparently, Alfred had actually overheard the whole epidemic that had happened between the two of them a year and five months ago. Alfred said that he seemed to be one of the only people that Jasmine acted more like her old self around, though there was such an undertone of sadness to her, that it almost seemed forced. He advised Dick to simply speak with Jasmine about what had been said so long ago, and to put it right, though Dick remained uncertain of this.

As for Tim, Dick had been hoping that when he had successfully brought Tim into the family, that he could be a kind of light not only for Bruce, but also for Jasmine. However, after conversations with the boy, it seemed that Jasmine took absolutely no interest in him, and seemed to find him as more of a pest that anything. It was rather depressing to think of the girl who had teased and laughed with him seemed to have taken a complete 180. Back then, she would have enjoyed meeting him, and they would have become quick friends. At the same time though, Dick knew that Alfred was right. It should be expected for her to act this way after what he said to her. No one would simply be…jubilant after hearing that from someone they trusted.

Dick had tried multiple times to try and fix his mistake by going to Gotham with hopes of speaking with her. Not only for her sake, but because he missed her as well, despite knowing that he had no business doing so after saying such destructive things to her so long ago. However, every time he visited, she was successfully able to disappear until he left. Not exactly disappear, precisely, but remain busy. There had even been times he went after her as Nightwing, but every time she still managed to slip away without him ever seeing a trace of her, as though she were made out of smoke.

The last time Dick had seen Jasmine was ten months ago during a mandatory Thanksgiving that Alfred established. Tim had been training to be Robin for two months at the time, and Bruce, who had become harsher in his crime fighting after Jason's death, had begun to act more like himself with the arrival of the 16 year old(though he is now 17) even after the small amount of time. Alfred had made it a formal dinner, so everyone had been dressed in their finest. Jasmine had been the last one down. He wouldn't ever forget watching as she entered, since it would be the first time he saw her in six months, and the first time he saw her dressed formally. The sides of her hair had been pinned back, and fell a bit past her shoulders blades in light waves. Her dress had been a formal gown in a beautiful turquoise color that really brought out the brilliance of her eyes. She had been absolutely stunning. Alfred had, of course, seated her next to Dick, though the entire dinner, she had never once looked at, let alone acknowledged, him. At least, not that he noticed. Dick had been the completely opposite, and had seemed unable to take his eyes off of her. He noticed how she kept her eyes lowered on her lap, and there had seemed to be a deep sadness within her that he longed to take away from her. To see her smile, tease and laugh like she used to. At the end of the dinner, he had tried to speak with her, but she announced that she had business to attend to, and left for the rest of the evening.

In present time, Dick was lying on the sofa in his small living room area. Leslie was lying in front of him as they watched a movie. It was a casual kind of date, Dick knew, but he liked casual. Typical, normal activities were refreshing to do for him, since his life was anything but typical and normal. Though he hadn't really been paying too much attention to the movie, and couldn't say what the actual plot was about, it was relaxing lying there with his girlfriend in his arms. A few times, he almost drifted off to sleep, but forced himself to stay awake, since falling asleep would be rather rude, even if he was tired. This was the first time he and Leslie had been able to hang out for a while, after all. Near the end of the movie, Leslie had turned to him, only for them to end up kissing, which had quickly shifted to making out. It was around that time that the door opened, immediately causing Dick to go on the defensive as he expected the worst. He had quickly broken off the kiss and sat up, shifting his body defensively in front of Leslie. It was then that his eyes rested on…

"Jasmine?"

She stood there at the front door, seeming to be frozen. Her blue-green eyes rested on him, shifted to Leslie then returned back to him. Her hair had grown longer, now coming down to the middle of her back rather that the end of her shoulder blades. Her eyes were less sad that they had been ten months ago, and more…contained. Hidden and Guarded. Whatever she was feeling, Dick was unable to tell, but then again, she had always been the one person he could never read very well. A mystery. A small swell of badly compressed feelings came over Dick and a light frown traced his lips, though he wasn't really all that surprised at their arrival.

"Richard Grayson…" she breathed, and Dick couldn't help but listen attentively for what she was about to say. As for Leslie, she seemed absolutely stunned at Jasmine's abrupt arrival, and kept glancing between the two, "you're…you're cheating on me again?!" Jasmine burst out and Dick blinked, taken aback, definitely not expecting that statement.

* _Wait, what?_ *

"Dick…what is she talking about?" Leslie spoke, sitting up and looking at him in confusion. Before Dick could answer her, saying that he had absolutely no idea, Jasmine walked forwards until she stood before them.

"I forgave you the last time, but…but now it's only a month away until our wedding!" Jasmine said in a heartbroken voice, her eyes even filling with tears.

"Wedding?!" Leslie burst out, looking horrified as she stared at Dick.

"How could you do this to me?" Jasmine said to Dick in this hushed angry and grieved voice. Dick stared at her dumbfounded, shocked that she actually pulled something like this, only for her hand to lash out and hit his cheek in a hard slap.

* _Ow…well I can't that that I didn't deserve that._ * Was all he could think as he gave a slow blink.

"You're engaged?!" Leslie burst out, quickly getting to her feet. Dick looked at her then, realizing just how bad this all was and wanted to explain the whole situation, which was that Jasmine was making the entire thing up. However, she then slapped him as well, making both of his cheeks sting.

* _That I didn't deserve, but she doesn't know that._ * Dick thought to himself, still stunned by the whole epidemic.

"I am _so_ sorry! I-I had no idea he had a fiancé! I thought he was single." Leslie said to Jasmine hurriedly, looking terribly embarrassed.

"It's okay, it isn't your fault. This isn't the first time this has happened." Jasmine said with a sad sigh and Leslie looked to Dick in disgust before drawing her coat on.

"If I were you, I would dump him and find someone better." Leslie said and Jasmine gave her a small smile.

"You know, maybe I'll take that advice."

"Once again…I'm very sorry." Leslie said quickly with a small nod. She gave one more death glare at Dick then practically ran out.

Dick watched her go, knowing that it would be useless to run after her. How could he explain that Jasmine and he weren't actually engaged after that? Sure he didn't have an engagement ring, but she would just accuse him of hiding it. Honestly, he supposed it was for the best. The moment his eyes had rested on Jasmine when she came through the door, he knew it wouldn't have worked out with Leslie…even after this stunt she just pulled. Though to say the least, he was rather annoyed. Surely there had been other ways Jasmine could have approached that.

"She seemed nice." Jasmine spoke simply, her eyes directed over at the shut door.

"Yeah, she was. Thanks for that." Dick muttered sarcastically, noticing her wiping the fake tears from her eyes, "When did you become a star actor?"

"I'm not a star actor. I don't believe people can simply fake an emotion they have never actually felt before. I just did what had to be done." She said coolly and he winced slightly, knowing her little comment was meant for him, before shaking head and stood up.

"What had to be done? You could have posed as my sister instead of my fiancé, you know." He sighed and she let out a small humorless laugh and looked to him.

"Right. Cause we look _so_ alike with your black hair and blue eyes, and my light brown hair and green eyes." She spoke thinly and he narrowed his eyes a bit, meeting her cold gaze. She had changed. Barbara and Alfred weren't exaggerating.

"Your eyes aren't green. They have blue in them." He spoke slowly and she scoffed.

"That's what comes to mind? My eyes have blue in them?" She muttered, shaking her head and looking annoyed.

* _She wouldn't have called her eyes just green last year. In her mind, that would be relating too much to Joker._ * Dick thought, frowning deeply. * _So why now?_ *

"How did you get in here anyways, Jasmine?" He asked, deciding to change the subject and she smirked humorlessly before dangling a key in the air.

"If I ever stop by, remember?"

Dick looked to the key for a moment then nodded slowly. That's right…he had given her a key. He had been coming back to Bludhaven after the month of staying at the manor, and she had been sad about him leaving. So, he had left a key for her, just in case she ever wanted to come to Bludhaven. He had forgotten about that until now, and by the light almost mocking smirk on her lips, she had guessed he had as well, though he wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or not. * _I'll go with bad._ *

"Anyways," Jasmine said seriously when he didn't respond, pushing the key into her pocket and crossing her arms over her chest, "I'm here on business."

"Business, huh? What about?" Dick asked, studying her for a moment. Well, her presence made sense then. He hadn't expected her to come to his apartment…ever. She had seemed dead set on avoiding him the past ten months.

"Earlier tonight I intercepted two of Penguin's men who were transporting something in a metal case. The first time I attacked, they had reinforcements, which slowed me down a little, but I was able to catch back up with them. Long story short, I got my hands on the case, but one of the men made it explode, destroying its contents and making them indistinguishable. I was able to put a tracker on him before he ran off and followed him to Penguin's nightclub. Obviously, I snuck in to listen in on anything Cobblepot would say. He's planning something big, and is getting Blockbuster from here in Bludhaven involved. He's trying to make it that Blockbuster will be manipulated by him and seem like the real threat to redirect your attention from the ones who are actually running the operation. Whatever plan it is, it's supposed to take over not only Gotham, but also Bludhaven. Any other details are unknown to me." She explained in an even and serious voice.

Dick frowned deeply as she explained this, listening to every word carefully. Blockbuster, huh? It didn't surprise him too much. Blockbuster was the only villain that actually caused him to worry to a rather large extent. However, Penguin managing to manipulate him? That seemed a little beyond the fat nightclub owner. The case itself, however, seemed extremely dangerous. Jasmine was right. Whatever this plan was, it was going to be big.

"Is that all the information you know?" He asked, and she seemed to pause, as if considering to say something, before nodding slowly.

"Yes."

Dick was quiet for a moment, studying her. However, she betrayed no emotion or sign that she was hiding something. "Alright. Thank you for telling me. I'll take over the case, so you don't need to worry yourself about it." He said, and saw frustration blaze in her eyes.

"You're joking, right? Sorry Dick, but I'm Gotham's protector and you're Bludhaven's. Last time I checked, this affected both of our cities, which gives me just as much right to investigate this case as you do." She snapped and he sighed. It was going to be dangerous, and he certainly didn't want her to get involved. However, she did have a point. She was the one who discovered the information, and it did affect both of their cities. Really, he didn't have the right, power or authority to keep her from working with him on this case. Not only that, but he predicted that her abilities have only gotten better since the last time he saw her.

"I figured you wouldn't want to work with me." He spoke to her, meeting her eyes, only for Jasmine to avert her gaze.

"My personal preferences are hardly an aspect I consider concerning the safety of Gotham."

Once again, Dick was struck by just how much Jasmine had changed. She was a lot more serious, especially about protecting Gotham. Not that she wasn't before, but instead of thinking of her own feelings or situations, she simply did what was best for the city. While this showed a progress in maturity on her part, it was possible that it could have developed to a dangerous level. Heroes couldn't just disregard their own personal needs. In the end, that will typically end in their downfall, and then the downfall of the city they were protecting. However, if the hero was able to create a balance between their personal needs and the needs of the city, then their efforts would usually end up being effective. In this situation, Jasmine disregarding her own personal feelings was good, but in other cases...it could prove to be a problem if she truly only did what was best for Gotham without considering herself or others.

"How has Tim been?" Dick spoke to her, taking a more gentle tone as he switched the subject. He had a soft spot for the new Robin, and had already decided to be more involved in his life than he had been in Jason's…so he could always be there for him. He hadn't seen the younger boys for a few months, however, and when he called, Tim was typically out with Bruce or busy doing something else. Jasmine lowered her arms from her chest, losing her more serious and defensive pose. He knew that she wasn't that close to Tim, but at the same time, Dick guessed that Bruce had her training him here and there.

"Well. His fighting has improved significantly." Jasmine spoke to him, her tone becoming softer and less cold. Though her eyes remained unchanged, Dick was able to pinpoint an almost guilty edge to her voice. While Dick wondered what it was she could be guilty about, he knew he had to tread carefully, especially with what he asked her. They hadn't spoken like this for a year and five months, and while it wasn't exactly the friendliest of conversations, it was progress from barely speaking at all.

"He and Bruce are getting along fine?" Dick asked and she glanced down.

"I believe so." She murmured and he frowned.

"You believe?"

"I mainly work solo unless my assistance in required. I don't know how they interact." Jasmine spoke firmly with a kind of monotone coldness to her voice.

"Jasmine, you live in the manor with them." Dick spoke, his eyes filling with a concerned light. Surely she has interacted with them during the time the three have been staying together. He knew that she pushed them away and was on shaky terms with Bruce because of Alfred and Barbara's information, but to an extent where she didn't know Bruce and Tim's relationship?

"Your point?" Jasmine snapped, glancing up and meeting his eyes, "I work alone, and I train alone unless Bruce makes me train Tim. I keep to myself. Surely, you can relate." She spoke, sweeping her arm across the apartment as if to prove her point. However, Dick ignored this and stepped closer to her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"How have _you_ been, Jasmine?" He spoke lowly, meeting her gaze seriously.

Jasmine seemed a little caught off guard for a moment, and Dick saw the burst of inner turmoil within the depths of her eyes. He thought back to what Alfred had told him, saying that she was distraught, while Barbara had simply said that she was pushing everyone away. However, he had a feeling that whatever was plaguing her was much more serious than how they had been putting it. This revelation of emotion did not last long, however, and her eyes became stony and she pushed his hand from her shoulder before turning her back to him quickly.

"I need to leave. I've stayed longer than I originally planned." She said sharply, striding to the door and opening it. Dick frowned and walked after her, following her down the steps and to a parked motorcycle.

"Jasmine, it's really late. Well…technically early. Just stay here. I'm going back to Gotham tomorrow, so we could head back in the morning together." He spoke, watching as she picked the helmet up and placed it on her head.

"You're the last person I want to stay with, Grayson."

"I get that, but I'm sure you've had a long night, and you must be tired. Driving in a state isn't exactly safe…or recommended."

"I'm not tired." She said sharply, swinging her leg over the motorcycle. Dick sighed and stepped in front of the motor cycle and rested his hands on the front.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Jasmine paused for a moment before narrowing her eyes and looking away, "Over a day."

"Then you're resting here. No exceptions." He said strictly. He saw her eyes seem to flash angrily before she closed then and took a deep, aggravated breath, seeming to calm herself down, then nodded slowly.

"Fine. I'll stay until morning." She muttered, dismounting the bike and pulling the helmet off. Dick let out a relieved breath, having almost excepted her to put up more of a fight. He began to walk back over to his apartment, and Jasmine followed only slightly behind him. As they entered, Dick closed the door behind her while she set the helmet on a table.

"You can take the bed in my room." He offered and she gave him an incredulous look.

"Dick, I am _not_ sleeping in your bed."

"Why not?" Dick asked with a small blink, not really seeing the problem with it.

"The fact that you even have to ask that question concerns me." She sighed, squeezing the bridge of her nose. Dick only took a second to think about it before laughing and smiled at her.

"I'm not cynical, Jazz," He smirked lightly and she frowned before meeting his eyes with her own, her gaze solemn.

"Yes. You are." She spoke, her tone quiet before she turned away, "The couch should be fine, and don't call me that."

Dick was taken aback by what she said, only to close his eyes almost painfully and wince. Of course she thought he was cynical. From what she had experienced, he was. What he said to her that night and the way he had acted…that was the definition of cynical. She trusted and believed in him, and he had shattered that. The way she was treating him and thought of him now had been his goal, but now…Dick opened his eyes and gazed at her, seeing her standing there with her back to him and her arms crossed over her chest. He cleared his throat a little.

"Jaz…Jasmine. I really don't mind taking the couch. I insist-" He began and she shook her head before sitting down on the sofa.

"You're not swaying me any time soon, so you might as well give it up." She spoke thinly before leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest and crossed her legs as well.

Dick sighed lightly before nodding slowly, "Alright. I'll get you a blanket then." He said, walking off to his room.

Dick entered the small neat bedroom before walking to the closet, looking for a blanket. Once he found one that should keep her warm for the night, he pulled it out then walked out. As he returned, he saw that her head was ducked forwards, and her breathing seemed even. * _Not tired my ass._ * Dick quietly walked over to her and set the blanket to the side. Gently, he picked her up bridal style in his arms, careful not to wake her. Heaven knows what she would do if she woke up in his arms.

As Dick carried her to his room, by some miracle, she didn't awaken, but rather pressed press closer to him more than anything. He drew the blankets down then set her on the bed. He knew she was going to be pissed in the morning, but he really didn't care. It was just polite to let the guest take the bed rather than a couch, and besides, she had slept less than he has by the sound of it. Dick settled the blankets over her before pulling back, looking to her face. She looked so peaceful sleeping, as if she hadn't changed at all. Lightly, he brushed the back of his hand over her cheek, and her head leaned into his touch slightly.

* _I'm sorry, Jasmine._ * Dick thought to himself, holding back a light sigh before pulling his hand back.

He silently walked out of his room and turned all the lights off in the apartment before lying back on the couch, drawing the blanket he had brought over himself. Dick's eyes rested on the ceiling for a moment as he collected his thoughts. When Jasmine had been explaining what happened earlier that night, he felt as though she had left something out. Why would she keep something about the case from him, and what was it, exactly? Even if they weren't on fantastic terms, he highly doubted that she would keep vital information from him, especially since they would be working together. At least, he hoped that she wouldn't. Dick closed his eyes then, deciding to try and get some sleep instead of pondering over issues he didn't have the answers to. Tomorrow was definitely going to be an interesting day, considering it was going to start with Jasmine being more upset than she already was since he carried her to his bed. A light groan came over him at the thought.

* _Oh yeah…I'm definitely going to need to get some rest considering that._ *


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this update took so long! Finals was crazy and then Christmas got busy as well. I have finally been able to finish this chapter though! I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks for reading**

 **-Bookreader777**

 ***This story was created from ideas and characters made by DC***

Chapter 3

*He isn't getting away again. This time, he's mine.*

 _Jasmine sprinted down the alleyway, her black and red cape fluttering behind her. Hardly anything was visible, and the path in front of her was like an endless void of darkness. However, the insane laughter of her father echoed off the walls of the alleyway, and they got louder with each step. She was getting closer to him, and once she caught him…she narrowed her cold eyes and smirked slightly. She was going to kill him._

 _The darkness in front of Jasmine slowly shaped into that of a door in the distance. It looked like some kind of abandoned building. Her father was a black silhouette before it. His laugh rang out one more time before he slipped into it. Jasmine smiled humorlessly. She had him now. He was a cornered mouse, and she was the cat. It didn't take too long for her to reach the door herself, and she immediately burst in then closed the door behind her. It echoed loudly then…silence. Nothing was able to be seen, as though she were blind._

 _Abruptly, a spotlight switched on and filled one space of the room with a circle of light, and only illuminated Joker, who stood in the middle with his hands clasped behind his back and that sadistic smile he always wears on his lips. The light didn't touch anything else, like walls or devices. It was just Joker, her and darkness. Her hand went to her waist, but instead of one of her whips being there, it was a gun._

"Well, what a surprise! It's like a family reunion!" _Joker called over then laughed. Jasmine narrowed her eyes then pulled the gun that had replaced on of her whips and levelled it at his him._

"We aren't family." _She said lowly and Joker smiled widely._

"Oh, I think you'll find that we are more alike than you think." He said darkly and Jasmine clutched the weapon hard in her grasp.

"Go to Hell." _She snapped hatefully then shot the gun._

 _The bullet found its mark perfectly. It sunk in his chest, right where his heart was, and he collapsed to the ground, his body looking like just a black form in the light at the moment. Jasmine slowly lowered her gun and she walked towards the body of her father. However, as she reached his body, it was no longer Joker. Jasmine was staring at Jason. His lifeless sea blue eyes were open, and seemed to be boring into her own eyes. Blood was blossoming up on his shirt and had already begun to pool around him. Jasmine's hands shook and the gun dropped from her hand and clattered to the ground. Horror at what she had done filled her and her breathes came out shakily._

"What have I done?!" _She cried out, tears filling her eyes._

 _Suddenly, the scene changed, and Jason's body faded away along with the spotlight, putting her in darkness once again for only a moment until the lights turned on once more. This time it shone down on Dick Grayson. He stood in front of her, the emotion in his eyes fathomless to her. Silence stretched between them for a second until he spoke._

"You killed Jason." _He spoke lowly and she slowly shook her head._

"N-No…I didn't mean to…I thought he was-" _She began to say shakily but he cut her off._

"It's your fault he's dead! You killed him, Jasmine, but I guess it isn't much of a surprise. You are just like Joker, after all." _He said coldly._

"NO. I'm NOTHING like him!" _She shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks and Dick slowly took a mirror out._

"See for yourself."

 _Jasmine looked at the mirror and gasped as she saw her reflection. Her face resembled her father's. Her skin was white from makeup, and her lips were red and drawn in a sadistic never ending smile. Her hair seemed to be died green, and her eyes were a dark green as well. She stumbled back in horror, only for Dick to disappear and she was suddenly trapped in a room with mirrors for walls. Her reflection was the one she saw in the mirror Dick held up, and she was suddenly caught in the eyes of one of them._

"You are JUST. LIKE. ME." _Joker's voice rang out loudly, coming from the lips of every reflection…_

Jasmine snapped her eyes open with a loud gasp. Her breathes came out quickly and shallowly and her heart was racing in her chest. She rolled onto her stomach and held herself up by her elbows, ducking her head as she focused on calming her breathing. Nightmares similar to those had become a normal occurrence, but all of them left her shaky and questioning herself. However, due to having them so much, she knew how to calm herself down, and not freak out like she used to. At times, there were some nightmares where she would wake up screaming. In the beginning of them, she would be crying hysterically. Thankfully, the only room that was considerably close to hers was Dick's, and he stayed in Bludhaven for the most part. Tim ran in one time when she had shouted something in the middle of her dream and woke her up. Of course, she had shoved him out of her room immediately, and left him without any kind of explanation for what she had been dreaming or if she was okay. She simply told him to stay out of her room and leave her alone.

Slowly but surely, Jasmine got her heart rate to return to normal, and her breathes came out evenly. She closed her eyes then pressed the palms of her eyes against them. * _Why can't I just stop having these nightmares?*_ She thought to herself before letting a sigh escape her lips. Lowering her hands, she then became aware of her surroundings. This was definitely not the couch in the living room. It was Dick's bed, if she had to guess. Jasmine was sure that he didn't have a guest room. Narrowing her eyes, she tossed the covers from her body then stood up and stalked out from the room. She walked down the hallway and spotted Dick sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"Richard!" She snapped, stopping before the couch and crossing her arms over her chest. His eyes slowly peered open and fixed on her for a moment before smiling slightly. Jasmine thought back to her dream, and she swallowed hard for a moment before regaining all of her composure once again. He didn't seem to notice any difference, which was lucky for her.

"Good morning, Jasmine. Did you sleep well?" He spoke lightly and she glared at him.

"What part of 'Dick, I am not sleeping in your bed' was hard to comprehend?" She asked him sharply, not answering his question and he chuckled then gave a light shrug as he gazed up at her almost lazily.

"Did I do anything to you?" Is how he responded, and Jasmine was a little taken aback.

"Well…no but-" Jasmine began and Dick cut her off.

"Exactly, and that was what you were concerned about. So, no harm was done." He spoke evenly before standing up and stretched his arms over his head. Jasmine stayed quiet, since he did have a point. As he rolled his shoulders, she heard them pop a little and a small shred of guilt went through her. Even if their past was…bad…what he did still had been nice.

"Thank you, Dick." Jasmine sighed quietly, keeping her eyes averted from him. He glanced at her almost in surprise before giving her a smile.

"Yeah, no problem. Anyways, I have hardly any food here. We're going to go to a café downtown for breakfast then go on our way." He informed her and she frowned.

"Dick, I don't have a change of clothes, and I really do need to take a shower. It would be easier going back to the manor. Besides, I don't have any money with me to pay for my food." She said evenly.

"That's no problem. I have a shower here you can use. As for the clothes, I can lend you a sweatshirt to wear until we return to the manor, and you don't need money. I'll pay for you." Dick said nonchalantly, making Jasmine a little taken aback before narrowing her eyes a little. * _What is he planning? He's being so nice…it's almost hard to be cold towards him. He basically said that he hates me the last time we truly talked to each other. The way he is acting now is…it reminds me how he used to act before Jason…_ * Jasmine thought, but let it trail off at that.

"I'd rather you not use your money on me. Then I'll need to pay you back, and I really don't want to be in your debt." She spoke thinly, and Dick sighed lightly.

"You don't need to pay me back. I swear, I'm not planning anything. I just want to take you to breakfast, and then go to the manor. That's all." He spoke to her seriously and Jasmine snapped her eyes to him for a moment. It was like he knew that she was suspicious of him. However…she could tell that he was speaking the truth. His eyes were set seriously. * _It isn't like he hasn't lied to your face before with eyes just as serious as they look right now._ * A little voice whispered in her head and she looked away from him.

"Right. I'm sure that's it," Jasmine said sarcastically and coldly then shifted her eyes over at him in a kind of glare. Dick averted his eyes from her for a moment, though Jasmine could see a small light of what seemed to be sadness in them. * _Why would he be sad?_ *

"Jasmine, please. Trust me on this one. It isn't that big of a deal anyways." He sighed, slowly looking over at her and she met his eyes, her own carefully guarded, cold and sharp.

"Never ask me to trust you. You already played with my trust enough as it is. However, this isn't that big of a deal, you're right. If it is fine with you, I'll start that shower." She said to him expressionlessly and he seemed to have winced slightly.

"Jasmine, what I did-" He began quietly, but Jasmine cut him off.

"Don't even start, Dick. I'm going to take a shower." She spoke up quickly, a bit of venom entering her voice before she spun on her heels and walked towards the bathroom.

A part of Jasmine felt a small shred of glee from their little small interaction, since she wasn't letting him get close to her, and her words seemed to be hurting him too. However, for the most part, it just made her feel worse. Jasmine had gone over conversations in her head where she yelled and Dick, and thought about things she could say to him to hurt him like he hurt her. She always thought that they would feel good to be said, and in her mind, imagining the scenario always did make her feel better. However, now that something similar to them happened, she realized that it was more so the opposite.

Jasmine pushed this from her mind as she entered the bathroom and walked to the shower. She started it up then was about to undress when a knock came from the door. Sighing lightly, she opened the door and looked up at Dick, who was holding a blue sweatshirt in his arms. Quietly, he handed it to her, and she studied him for a moment. He seemed unreadable as she was, though he wasn't cold or anything. There seemed to be a twinge of sadness around him, though he didn't express it. Jasmine lowered her eyes then took the sweatshirt.

"Thanks." She murmured before slowly closing the door and locking it.

Setting the sweatshirt down, Jasmine then undressed and stepped into the shower, letting out a deep breath as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she let the warm water wash over her. * _Perhaps I should apologize._ * She thought to herself then shook her head slightly with a small scowl before putting some shampoo in her hand. * _Why am I feeling so guilty? It isn't as though he actually likes me, which is why it is so weird that he is acting nice. He just wants to mess with me again…but I'm not going to let him have that opportunity._ * She thought to herself strictly as she lathered the soap into her hair. Then a soft sigh escaped as she thought back to how Dick was acting around her. He sure as hell didn't seem to be planning anything malicious. * _But that doesn't mean he isn't._ * Jasmine thought to herself, washing out the shampoo.

Since Dick didn't have any conditioner, Jasmine simply used the body wash after the shampoo then turned the shower off. As she stepped out, a shiver ran through her at the chill of the air before she pulled a towel around herself then dried off quickly and also wrung her hair out. It didn't take long for her to pull the clothes on, though instead of her wine red shirt, she pulled Dick's sweatshirt on, which was rather big on her small frame. She ran her fingers through her damp hair before unlocking the door and stepping out. She turned the light off behind then walked out, holding the towel and her red shirt in her arms. Dick was lying down on the couch, his arms behind his head as he gazed up at the ceiling. It seemed he had changed while she was in the shower, and was now wearing a simple black shirt with a pair of jeans. When she entered the room, he glanced over and offered a smile, as though nothing had happened between them earlier.

"We can just walk to the café, and then come back afterwards." He offered as he got to his feet and made his way over, soon taking the towel from her arms.

"Alright." Jasmine simply nodded, catching a twinge of amusement in his eyes when he looked her over, "What's so amusing?"

"Oh…nothing, really," He stated, walking to some room she guessed was where he put laundry then came back, "Let's go then." Dick stated, stretching his arms over his head as he walked to the door, whistling lightly as he did.

Jasmine blinked for a moment as she looked after him. It was as though he hadn't been upset earlier. He was acting carefree. She shook her head slightly as she gazed at his back in bewilderment. She had no idea how he could walk away after being hurt and be completely fine, or at least, seem completely fine. Realizing she had been standing for much too long, Jasmine then set the shirt beside her motorcycle helmet and started to follow behind him, her pace quick before slowing as she caught up to him.

As they exited Dick's apartment, Jasmine closed the door behind her then walked at his side, unable to help but look around at all the people walking in the streets. It was all very…busy. People were walking this way and that, all seeming to have somewhere important they needed to go. In Gotham, she wasn't allowed to walk among the civilians like this. She wasn't in the city records and if her mother saw her and traced her back to Wayne Manor then…well it wouldn't be good. Bruce had her take the identity of Jessamine Quest to help with this situation when it came to her staying at the manor, since people were going to see her eventually considering she was staying at the Wayne Manor. This way, with her fake identity, she could attend parties and so on while pretending to be the daughter from an old friend of the Wayne family. She never did leave the manor and go into Gotham unless she was Batwoman though. That was Bruce's orders as a safety precaution. So, being around all these people on the street as they lived their normal lives was…fascinating. She couldn't help but be intrigued, even if they all did just simple, everyday things. It was Dick grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop that surfaced her from her thoughts, followed by the distinct aroma of coffee.

"This is the place." He spoke and Jasmine looked over, her eyes resting on a small coffee shop. A few people were sitting inside at the moment. Across the street was a park, and the sound of children's laughter rang in the air, giving the area an almost delightful touch to it.

"It looks nice." She said quietly, following him into the café. Dick simply smiled over at her then walked up to the counter and began to talk to the woman behind it, first striking some conversation before ordering. Jasmine looked around, wondering what they served before spotting a board with food and drink items written on it. She scanned its contents before glancing around. Everything was so new and foreign. * _Perhaps I should listen to how Dick is ordering…_ * She thought to herself a tad nervously, returning her attention to him. However, he had just finished his order and was indicating for her to step up.

Jasmine took a deep breath before walking up and looking to the woman at the counter, who wore a pleasant smile on her face as she waited. "Um…the green tea written on the board…is that available?" She asked.

"Yes, of course." The woman said nicely.

"I will…have that then." Jasmine stated, though it sounded a bit more like a question than anything. * _Am I doing this correctly?_ *

"Would you like anything to eat?" The girl then asked and Jasmine bit her lower lip lightly. She hadn't even considered a food item in the midst of everything.

"I…" She began in a small voice, only to trail off when Dick rested his hand lightly on her shoulder and leaned over her a little.

"We'll just share that pastry I ordered." He said to the woman with a charming smile and she beamed at him before nodding. Jasmine let out a light breath of relief and glanced at Dick for a moment, who pulled out a ten dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to the girl.

"So, are you two a couple?" The girl asked as she handed his change back and he cracked a smile while Jasmine shot her eyes to the girl.

"We most certainly are not a couple. We're hardly even friends." Jasmine spoke up quickly, crossing her arms over her chest as she spoke, though she couldn't deny the light burning in her cheeks. * _What a personal question…how rude._ *

"As you can see, I seem to be deeply stuck in the friend zone." Dick said with a small side smile and the girl laughed good-naturedly at what he said.

"Well, I think the two of you would be a nice couple." She stated and Jasmine frowned and was about to respond when Dick quickly spoke up before her.

"Maybe one of these days," He said, winking over at Jasmine, who simply glared in response, "Anyways, thanks and have a good day." He said with a small wave to the girl.

"You two have a great day as well." She spoke, waving back as Dick took Jasmine's arm firmly but gently and led her to a booth that rested next to a window. Jasmine slid into a seat and he sat across from her.

"And you called me a star actor." Jasmine retorted, leaning back in the seat.

"That wasn't acting. It was merely casual interaction." Dick spoke lightly and she frowned.

"Is it normal to ask people if they are a couple? Isn't that personal?" She muttered and Dick's light smile fell a little and he seemed to study her, which annoyed her a bit, "What?"

"I just thought that…you would have a better understanding of interaction after all this time." He breathed to her quietly and she was silent for a moment before looking out the window in the direction of the park where parents and their children were running around, smiling and laughing.

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong I guess." She muttered and Dick sighed.

"I didn't mean that to be insulting."

Jasmine was silent once more before she sighed and nodded quietly, "I know. I still don't really talk to much of anyone, Dick. This is the first time that I've actually ordered something from a place, let alone gone to eat at one. I'm still ignorant of what you would refer to as a normal life." She spoke in a soft voice. A small silence stretched between the two and Jasmine returned her eyes to him for a moment, but happened to meet his gaze for a moment. He leaned forward a bit, looking like he wanted to say something when a waitress came up with their order.

"Here you are." The waitress said and Dick leaned back and smiled to her.

"Thank you." He said politely and the waitress smiled at him before walking off. Jasmine gratefully picked up the medium sized mug and held it up, closing her eyes as she took in the aroma of the green tea before sipping it lightly.

"I had no idea you liked tea." Dick spoke after a moment and Jasmine opened her eyes and looked to him.

"It was the only beverage besides water and milk Risuka let me drink, but we rarely had it." She responded matter-of-factly before sipping it once more. The two lapsed into silence as they sipped their beverages. However, when a little kid from the outside screamed "daddy," Jasmine set the mug down quickly and shot her eyes over to the park where it came from, immediately getting to her feet. Dick stood up as well and grabbed her arm. People in the café had started to stare over at them as well, though both didn't seem to notice this, or really care about it all that much.

"Jasmine calm down, he's only-"

Jasmine stared over at the park, watching as a father had his arms wrapped around his daughter from behind and spun her in a circle. She was laughing and the man was smiling happily. It was her slowly sitting down that had made Dick cut off from what he was saying. As he set the little girl down, she stumbled a little on her feet before wrapping her arms around her father in a hug. The adrenaline that had kicked in was slowly fading away, and she watched the interaction almost longingly, wondered what it was like. * _So that is how a father acts…they look so happy._ *

"For such a menacing reputation, Bludhaven doesn't seem too bad." Jasmine spoke up after looking away from the scene, trying to disperse any attention that might have been raised to her earlier reaction.

"We're in a better part of the city. This whole place is truly terribly corrupted. Typically any criminals that didn't make it much in Gotham come here and terrorize the place. I've been able to establish a little bit of order, but the police system needs a lot of work along with the crime rate." Dick sighed lightly in response, though he glanced back at the father and his daughter before returning his eyes to Jasmine.

"Ah. I see." She murmured then closed her eyes and lifted the mug to her lips to take another deep sip of her tea.

"Do you want half of this pastry?" Dick spoke and Jasmine set the mug down before opening her eyes, seeing that he had cut what she believed to be a danish in half.

"Um…yes, sure." She said quietly, picking up the fork near her and cut off a small piece of her pastry half then ate it. Her eyes widened a little at the taste, since it was…really good. Hearing a soft laugh from Dick caught her attention and she focused her on him. He was gazing at her with this warm and amused look, and a gentle smile was curved on his lips. He looked like the Dick Grayson _she_ knew before he completely changed that day. Jasmine knew that she shouldn't fall for it and let him draw her in like this again. However, for the moment, it was nice to see the look he used to give her before…before he said all of it was fake.

"You know, I forgot how the smallest things seem to amaze you. I like seeing your reactions." Dick spoke to her softly and she stared at him for a moment before lowering her eyes and looking out the window. She was so terribly confused at his behavior. It contradicted how he treated her before and what he said.

"Glad to hear it. Now, we really should finish this breakfast then get back to the manor." She spoke up strictly, her eyes taking a carefully guarded expression as she looked back to him. Jasmine didn't know how else to respond. She didn't know how to take what he said, how he looked. * _I can't let him in. I don't want to feel that pain again. Dammit, Dick, leave me alone! You already hurt me once…must you try to do it again?_ *

Dick's seemed to study Jasmine for a moment after she spoke before looking down in silence and ate his half of the pastry. This time, Jasmine didn't try to figure out what he was thinking. She didn't want to see the emotions he was expressing. She simply wished that he had just answered his damn cell phone so she didn't have to come and see him. The only good it did was open fresh wounds that she had hoped had become merely scars in the year and five months they had been distant with each other. She had done so well in avoiding him, and staying out of contact. Now that she had simply spent a few hours with him, those scars were already reopening. The earliest she could get away from him, the better. Quickly, she ate her half of the Danish then finished the last few sips of her tea. Dick finished about the same time as her, and the two cleaned up their table before walking out of the café.

Dick and Jasmine were silent as they walked back to Dick's apartment. There wasn't much for them to say at that moment. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but the time wasn't right for what truly needed to be discussed. As they walked, she could feel the weight of Dick's eyes on her from time to time, but she didn't look over at him a single time. Once they arrived at the apartment, Jasmine walked in then picked her motorcycle helmet up. She then bundled the shirt until it was a small and placed it into the pocket of Dick's sweatshirt and then turned to him. He had his car, and she had her motorcycle. It would definitely be the best way to get back, considering Bruce would kill her if she didn't return with his motorcycle.

"I'll ride the motorcycle I came on and you can just ride your car there." She spoke, and he nodded, taking his car keys.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He said, and they were quiet once more as they stepped out of the apartment. Dick locked the door behind him, and Jasmine walked to the motorcycle and swung her leg over it before placing the helmet on her head.

Jasmine started the engine up, then waited for Dick to start up his car. Once he did, she started to take off. Like last time, she knew that the trip would not take too long. Though she wasn't exactly looking forward to facing Bruce considering the fact she took his motorcycle without permission. He definitely wasn't going to be particularly happy with her. * _It isn't like he usually is though._ * She thought to herself, sighing inwardly. Of course, Jasmine knew that this wasn't particularly Bruce's fault. The blame rested mostly on her, just like it was concerning the lack of relationship between her and Tim. She didn't want to be close to anyone, and it was better for them if they kept their distance from her. Not only that, but Jasmine couldn't help but be upset about the fact that Bruce had just accepted Tim after losing Jason for only five months.

After about forty-five minutes, the manor came into view. She drove up to the garage, and it opened upon their arrival. She frowned a little, only to see Alfred standing off by the door with his arms clasped behind his back. She slowly pulled the motorcycle in and parked it then took the helmet off. Instead of immediately dismounting, she ran her fingers through her hair to tame it and pull out a few tangles. Dick parked just outside of the garage.

"Madam Jasmine, Master Bruce would like to see you." Alfred called to her and she sighed.

"Yeah, I figured that." She muttered, swinging off of the motorcycle.

"Wait, why would Bruce need to see Jazz…mine." Dick said, catching the ending of her name since she had snapped at him earlier for calling her by her nickname.

"Ah, Master Dick. It is nice to see you, sir," Alfred said with a small smile.

"It's nice to see you too Alfred." Dick smiled back and Jasmine glanced away.

"Ah, yes, about Madam Jasmine. Well you see, Master Dick, the young miss took the motorcycle without permission and also did not tell Master Bruce she was going out." Alfred spoke.

Dick sighed lightly then looked to Jasmine, "You took a motorcycle and didn't tell Bruce where you were going?"

"Yup. Why do you think I wanted to return last night?" She snapped coldly then walked past him and Alfred and into the manor. * _He's probably in the Batcave._ * She thought to herself, crossing her arms over her chest as she made her way to the secret entrance.

Jasmine took the elevator down, and then stepped out. Immediately, her gaze swept across the area and rested on Bruce, who was standing in the center with his own arms crossed over his chest. His lips were turned down in a deep frown and he didn't make a sound or gesture as she came into sight. * _He's pissed._ * Slowly, she walked over to him until she stood before him and met his blazing eyes with her cool, guarded and expressionless gaze. She noticed him taking in her appearance for a quick moment.

"Is that Dick's sweatshirt?" He asked gruffly and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"You went to see Dick?" He asked, narrowing his eyes in question, since even Bruce knew that Jasmine wouldn't just go to see Dick. He knew about their falling out.

"Not because I wanted to. The case I'm working on just involved Bludhaven, and Dick didn't answer my calls, so I went to inform him about it." She explained and Bruce slowly uncrossed his arms, the anger starting to leave him as he heard her reason.

"I see. You still shouldn't have taken the motorcycle without permission. If Barbara hadn't known where you were going, Jasmine, we would have stayed up all night searching for you when we should have been fighting crime out in Gotham." He said to her strictly and she averted her eyes from him.

"Yeah. I got it, Bruce. Now if you would excuse me, I have to update the information on my case." She said thinly and turned her back to him. As she took a step, she felt his large hand rest on her shoulder.

"You need to stop going places without telling someone."

"I can take care of myself." She said sharply, pulling her shoulder from his grip.

"Jasmine-" He said lowly and she simply started walking away.

"Stop acting concerned, Bruce." She said thinly and she heard his footsteps quickly approaching her.

"Stop _acting_ concerned?" He growled lowly and she stopped and looked at him from over her shoulder, seeing that he was right behind her.

"Yeah. Acting. You know, when someone pretends but tries to make it believable."

"I know what it means. Why you came to the conclusion that I'm acting is above me though." He said shortly and Jasmine returned her eyes forward once more.

"I have work to do."

Jasmine then walked into the elevator, this time Bruce not following her. She heard him sigh lightly before the doors closed behind her. As it ascended, she squeezed the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. Usually she and Bruce only spoke seriously about the crimes in Gotham, or they had unpleasant disagreements like the one that happened only seconds earlier. * _I know he doesn't care about me. I used to think that maybe he could be the father that I never had, but I was being naïve. The daughter of chaos can't be loved. It was easier for him to take me in than keep me on the streets, like Dick had said to me. Then they needed me to try and find Jason, but in the end, even I couldn't find him. The only reason he has kept me here is because I'm a valuable ally to have when fighting. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less._ *

Jasmine soon found herself in her room. She quickly pulled her red shirt out from Dick's sweatshirt pocket then set it on the bed. Quickly, she then took out black running shorts, a white athletic t-shirt and a white sports bra. Jasmine then tugged her clothes off and changed into the workout clothes, since she planned on doing some training before she went out tonight. After folding Dick's sweatshirt, she set it on her bed then grabbed a hairband and immediately walked over to her desk where she pulled out a file and opened it. She sat in the seat that rested before the desk then pulled the information out of the file. Jasmine began reading the observing the information as she pulled her long hair into a ponytail.

The case started like a regular kind of crime. Word had it on the streets that the Penguin was planning on shipping more guns into Gotham. Of course, information like that was old news, and not much of a surprise. However, as she went into it, even searching through the man's nightclub, she didn't find any illegally shipped guns or anything. That was when the case got interesting. She low-key looked into the mission after that so no one suspected her to be on their tail, even taking on other cases in the meantime. It was when she heard of an exchange of some important object that was going to Penguin did she finally get involved. That was the briefcase the two men had the night before.

Taking out some paper, Jasmine began to scrawl the new information. From what she learned, Penguin was planning something huge. Something that wouldn't just affect Gotham, but also Bludhaven. Clearly Penguin was a little paranoid about this plan being disrupted as well due to the people he hired. Blockbuster in Bludhaven was going to be involved, but manipulated into doing what Penguin wanted. However…Jasmine leaned back in her chair and set her pencil down. That Red Hood character…he seemed to be the mastermind behind the entire plot. What was in it for him? He seemed content with giving Penguin control over Bludhaven and Gotham, so what was he getting? Money? Jasmine picked up her pencil and was about to scrawl down Red Hood and his suspicious motives and his involvement, but hesitated. * _I want Red Hood for myself. If I put him down in the file, then Dick will be aware of him as well…but this is my case before it is his. Red Hood is mine._ * She thought to herself, setting the pencil down once again.

A knock came at her door, and Jasmine looked over before sighing. She rested her head in her hands for a moment, hoping it wasn't Bruce. She wasn't in the mood to continue their hostilities. Sighing, she got to her feet and walked over, swinging the door open. It was Dick. * _Just kidding. I'll take Bruce._ * She thought to herself, but figured it was convenient since she had just finished sort of updating the file. He needed to get caught up on it since he was becoming a part of the case.

"Stay there." Jasmine spoke, turning back into her room. She grabbed his sweatshirt from her bed then walked to the desk. She set all the papers back inside of the file in an orderly fashion then closed it before taking it into her hands. As she turned around, she saw that Dick was standing in front of her desk and had her sketch book in her hands. Scowling, she stalked forwards and tugged it from him before he could open it and tossed it onto her bed.

"I told you to stay put." She said coldly.

"I know, I just saw your sketchbook…and I enjoy seeing your artwork," He said casually and she glared at him before grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of her room, letting the door slam close behind her.. She shoved him forwards then crossed her arms over her chest as she stood right in front of him.

"Look. Stay out of my room, and stay away from me. We're working on the same case together, but that's it. Once this case is over, you won't see me and you won't hear from me. Got it? If you think I'm some stupid little girl who is going to just swoon over you because you direct sweet words and smiles in my direction, then you are _sadly_ mistaken. So _stop pretending to actually care about me_ ," She said angrily and coldly then pushed the file against his chest, "Now study and get caught up, because I'm sure as hell not going to be slowed down by you." Jasmine snapped, noticing how his eyes remained unreadable as she spoke. When the file hit his chest, he grabbed it with a hand, and she then strode off and went towards the Batcave once again, though this time it was for training purposes. She could feel him staring after her as she went down the hallway. A part of her wanted to look behind her, but she just kept walking until she reached the Batcave.

Once there, Jasmine immediately went to the training area and grabbed a punching bag. She hung it up, and immediately began to throw punches against it. It felt nice to release the anger she had built up from interacting with both Bruce and Dick. She didn't understand why they both kept trying to act like they still cared. What was the point of that? The punching bag flew back from a strong punch and she caught it to still it before throwing more punches. Jasmine shook her head a little. * _Just focus on training. No more thoughts concerning Dick or Bruce.*_ She thought to herself, continuing on with her punches until she had broken out into a light sweat, and there was a dull ache in her hands. Of course, due to her high pain tolerance, she rarely noticed the soreness, but knew well enough that she should give her hands a break from all the beating. Just as she started to do pushups, she heard the sound of footsteps and glanced up.

"Hey, Jasmine." Tim said and she sighed lightly before continuing to do her pushups. * _Can I not have time alone?_ *

"What do you need, Tim?" She spoke coldly to him.

"Bruce said you would train me for today. He had a meeting come up and can't miss it." He spoke and she straightened her arms and looked back over at him before reluctantly nodding and getting to her feet.

"Alright," She breathed in annoyance, standing up straight and walking over to him, crossing her arms behind her head, "What were you working on last, kid?"

"I wish you would stop calling me kid." He grumbled and she smirked a little and crossed her arms over her chest as she gazed up at him since, like both Dick and Jason, he was also taller than her.

"You're seventeen years old, which makes you a kid compared to me."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tim sighed then looked down at her, "So, um, we were working on fighting with the staff." He said and she nodded slowly.

"Great. A training session where I get to whack the shit out of you. This'll be fun." She spoke, walking over to the small lineup of weapons and grabbed one staff for Tim and one for her. She then tossed it over to the younger boy, who caught it.

"Don't be too cocky, Jasmine. I've gotten better." Tim piped up and Jasmine glanced over at the boy, studying his stance for a moment. He seemed balanced, unlike their last training session. Bruce must have fixed it.

"Sure you have, kid," Jasmine yawned twirling the staff in her fingers before slamming the end down, making it echo in the caves. She then looked to Tim and smirked over at him, "Let's see what you've got if you're so much better," She spoke in a bit of a mocking tone.

Tim narrowed his eyes a bit, seeming to study her own rather relaxed pose before darting forwards. Jasmine immediately sidestepped, dodging a swing from his staff, and then twirled to the side and behind him as he jabbed at her, slamming the end of her staff into his back. He stumbled forwards, and Jasmine immediately came forwards in a blur and swept the staff at his feet, which knocked him to the ground. She then stood over him as he rolled onto his back with a heavy sigh.

"Too slow. Judge my movements faster, and make predictions. Try again." Jasmine snapped, taking a step back and stood with the end of her pole against the ground like she had it before.

Tim then got to his feet, this time his eyes set more seriously than before. * _Good._ * She noticed him roll to the balls of his feet, then strike forwards, swinging in a wide arc.

Jasmine moved her staff up, deflecting his attack then struck forwards on her own. She made a jab to his ribs…only for his staff to shove against hers throwing off her aim and making her body shift forwards. So he did learn. Jasmine quickly use the momentum to carry herself into a somersault, avoiding his next attack then swung the staff behind her, deflecting his next attack at her. Quickly, Jasmine got to her feet, swinging the staff towards his head. He ducked and she took the opportunity to instead direct the staff down, making it hit his back rather hard. She then moved forwards, swinging the staff so it would make contact with his side, but much to her surprise, he quickly raised his staff and deflected it. The attack had been fast enough that he could have still been recovering from the strike she had landed on his back. Then, he used that time to grab her staff, and pulled himself to his feet. He immediately lashed with his own staff while he had ahold of hers and she smiled humorlessly before reaching over and caught his staff. However, instead of holding onto it, she let it go then twisted her end of her staff, which twisted his hand and loosened the hold he had on hers before pulling it back into her possession. Right as she regain control, Jasmine ran forwards and struck. Tim could only parry her onslaught of attacks, each coming in blurs and repeatedly making him take backward steps. Finally, she landed a jab to his stomach, making him double over with a small gasp, then used her move from earlier by twirling behind him and jabbing his back to make him stumble forwards, though this one put him on his hands and knees.

"Better. You were playing more with your head than with your muscles." She spoke, walking around to the front and stood in front of him. He slowly looked up at her and sighed, moving himself into a sitting position.

"Your main weapon is a whip. How are you so good at this?" He asked, and she glanced away for a moment.

"Let's just say I've been trained in other weaponry outside of martial arts and whips." She spoke simply and noticed him wince a little as he got into a standing position.

"I didn't even get close to beating you though," He grumbled, "I just received new bruises. Dick was a better Robin than I was after a year, and I bet Jason was as well."

Jasmine was silent for a moment as she gazed at the boy before slowly walking up to him, "Dick was also an acrobat before he became Robin, and Jason knew how to survive on the streets. You have come from a completely different background than they did, Tim. A background where you didn't need to learn how to fight, and you weren't some star acrobat. Considering this, you are progressing with flying colors, not to mention that your detective skills could probably rival Dick's. Stop being hard on yourself, kid." She said to him in an even voice and he met her eyes in surprise.

"You mean that?"

Jasmine averted her eyes from him, "Just because I'm not exactly the warmest person here doesn't mean I'm completely terrible." She said with a small smile before walking past him.

"I-I didn't mean-"

"Keep working on the speed of your attacks. I'm going to get dressed and go out for tonight. Good job." She spoke, cutting him off before walking to the elevator and rode it up. Her eyes turned to Tim for a moment before he was out of sight, and he was watching as she ascended. * _He's a good kid._ * She thought to herself before the elevator pulled her from his sight.

Jasmine then walked to her room as the elevator returned to the manor and quickly pulled her Batwoman suit out. She undressed then pulled it on and placed her mask on before attaching her whips to her waist. She supposed that she should go get Dick. Sighing lightly, she exited her room and made her way to Dick's room, which was only a few down from hers. Stopping outside of it, she knocked then waited. After waiting a few moments without an answer, she simply opened the door and found it empty.

"Of course." She muttered, then shook her head and strode away from his room. * _I'll just go out myself. He can catch up._ *


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long! School has been crazy for me lately. I'll try updating more regularly. I hope you like this new installment!**

Chapter 4

Dick watched as Jasmine left the garage to go speak with Bruce about her having taken a motorcycle and left without telling him where she was going. Both he and Alfred watched her walk out, only for the two of them to sigh as she closed the door. Dick cracked a light smile and looked to the butler, who looked faintly amused as well.

"I'm sure that her company was as charming as ever, sir." He spoke and Dick laughed.

"Oh yeah, _very_ charming. I swear, Alfred, I've never been so careful in how I've spoken to someone in my life." He breathed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, that is to be expected, sir. She isn't particularly fond of you as of present." He stated and Dick glanced at him.

"Yeah. So I noticed. Please tell me she isn't 'particularly fond' of anyone else." Dick sighed.

"Hmmm…I do believe she has coldness towards Master Bruce as well. Master Tim she simply avoids for the most part…perhaps treats him like a nuisance."

"What about you and Barbara?"

"She's more open with Madam Barbara, and doesn't try to be mean to her, though she does push her away. As for me, well, I am quite proud to say that Madam Jasmine acts more like herself around me. I'm not entirely sure why though." Alfred stated, and Dick looked up at Alfred eagerly.

"Herself?" He asked and Alfred paused for a moment before sighing.

"Let me rephrase. Madam Jasmine expresses her emotions around me, while around everyone else, she covers it up with coldness and anger to push them away from her." He said and Dick frowned.

"I see. Do you really think me talking to her would make a difference, Alfred?" He asked and the butler seemed to think for a moment before replying.

"Yes, sir, I do. The young miss took what you said very seriously. It will probably take her a little while to…recover completely. If you explain to her why you said what you did, then continue to act nicely towards her despite her cold and angry demeanor, I think she will catch on." Alfred spoke, "You must remember, sir, that she most likely hasn't trusted much of anyone before she came here."

Dick nodded to this, though he had to say that he wasn't exactly looking forward to that talk. After the small interactions he has had with Jasmine, he could already deduce that it wasn't going to be particularly pleasant. However, in the end, that truly didn't matter. He would do whatever it took to help her, and see her smile again. Dick also knew that Alfred was correct about Jasmine's trust. From the small things he knew about her past, she has only ever trusted one person. Risuka. However, Risuka was killed when she was fifteen. After that, she could only really trust and rely on herself until he came in and brought her here. Still, he was certain that she didn't just trust them immediately. From what he said to her so long ago, it must have shattered her already fragile trust. Now she was probably wary to place her faith in anyone.

"You're right, Alfred." Dick said and the old butler seemed to straighten up a little.

"Why of course I am, Master Dick. Now, I really must be off. There is plenty of cleaning left to do." He said. Dick smiled lightly, watching the butler leave the garage fondly. He soon left himself, figuring that he should probably go settle into his room for now. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be in Gotham given the circumstances. The case could either be figured out quickly, or it could be drawn out for a while. Dick hated to leave Bludhaven like this, but in the end, he knew that it would be for the city's best interest.

Walking through the hallways, Dick eventually made it to his room and stepped in. It was very orderly and clean. Nothing was out of place, and really, it didn't seem much like his room. He had cleaned it completely out the last time he had been in Gotham. Even the tack board he used to keep up to inspect clues and make possible conclusions had been taken down. He took it with him to Bludhaven. All of his desks had been mostly cleared off from his personal objects, like pictures. However, one did remain on his nightstand, and Dick walked over and picked it up. It was the one of him and Jason. The glass had a crack going through it from when he accidently knocked it to the ground. A soft sighed escaped his lips as he gazed down at it, brushing the glass free of any lingering dust. Dick had left the picture so he could recover from Jason's death, and not be reminded of the boy that was like his younger brother, and his failure to save him. The sound of footsteps caught his attention, and Dick set the picture down.

"Dick! You're here!" Tim called out. Dick looked over his shoulder to see the excited 17 year old boy as he stood in the doorway.

"Seems to be that I am." He said with a light smile and Tim walked over.

"I had no idea you were visiting." He stated and Dick shrugged a little.

"Neither did I until last night, if I'm honest," Dick chuckled before slinging his arm over the boys shoulders, "How have you been, Tim?"

"I've been fine. Training has been going pretty well, and Bruce says that I've improved a lot," He stated.

"That's great, Tim! Before long, you'll probably become a better Robin than I was." He grinned, giving a small wink.

"Come on, Dick, we both know that's not going to happen." Tim said, but smiled slightly.

"Don't be such a pessimist. You need to aim high, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. Anyways, how have you been and why are you here?" The younger boy asked curiously.

"I've been alright. I actually had a girlfriend…until last night that is. I'm here because Bludhaven is being threatened by Penguin." He spoke, giving a summarized version.

"What happened last night? Wait…let me guess. Did Jasmine show up at your door? She _did_ leave last night, but didn't say where exactly where she was headed. It isn't much of a surprise though," Tim sighed lightly, "Penguin? You know, now that I think about it, he _has_ been pretty quiet lately."

"You guessed correctly. Jasmine pretended that we were engaged, so my girlfriend at the time got pissed, slapped me, and then stormed out with the thought that I was some cheating asshole," Dick sighed before nodding, "Yeah. I thought the same once I heard it. It was originally Jasmine's case, but since Bludhaven became involved, she spoke to me about it."

"Dang. Jasmine must have played the heartbroken fiancé part pretty convincingly then," Tim breathed, only for his eyes to widen, "Wait. Jasmine actually _spoke_ to you? I mean, sabotaging your relationship I can see, but actually discussing with you face to face? She hates your guts."

"I'll say, and yes. She actually did speak to me. Thanks for putting that lightly, Tim." Dick spoke sarcastically, making the boy smile apologetically.

"Sorry, just stating the truth. Well, you know, it may not be the truth. She did talk to you about Bludhaven being in danger." Tim pointed out.

"That doesn't make her dislike for me lessen any. She felt obliged to do so." Dick sighed.

"Oh…well…you know, I've kind of given up trying to understand her."

"She wasn't always like this. Actually, she used to be about the complete opposite." Dick spoke softly and Tim glanced at him.

"What happened?"

Dick averted his eyes from Tim for a moment, "I was an idiot, but I'll explain that mess of a situation some other time. I should probably go get the file from her and study what she has on the case so far to look for any possible leads." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Tim seemed to study him for a moment before seemingly nodding reluctantly.

"Alright. I'll see you around then, Dick." He spoke, offering a light-hearted smile. Dick let out a small breath of relief that he seemed accepting of the explanation being kept off until later before smiling. He patted his shoulder in a brotherly way before walking past him.

"See you around, Tim." He said warmly.

Dick left his room and went only a few doors down to Jasmine's. It was silent, so he wasn't sure if she was even there. However, he supposed it couldn't hurt to knock, so that was what he did. It was only a few seconds until he heard footsteps. The door swung open, and Dick looked down to the blue-green eyed girl. She looked a little annoyed at his presence before those eyes became carefully guarded, and he could no longer tell what she was feeling. Before he could speak, she spoke up instead.

"Stay here."

Dick sighed lightly as he watched her turn around. She lifted his blue sweatshirt from her bed then walked over to her desk. His eyes strayed from her, only to land on her sketchbook. It was just sitting on her nightstand. Curiosity and a kind of longing filled him to look inside the book once again, since her drawings had just been so spectacular. He knew that she told him to stay put, but he found himself walking forwards and picking the sketchbook up into his hands gently. Just as he was about to open it, the book was snatched from his hands, and Dick raised his gray-blue eyes to see Jasmine, looking pretty pissed off. * _Here we go._ *

"I told you to stay put." Jasmine spoke coldly and he looked to her casually, deciding that acting normally would be better than being more submissive or apologetic. * _Just treat her how you would normally do if she didn't hate your very existence_.* He thought to himself.

"I know, I just saw your sketchbook…and I enjoy seeing your artwork." He spoke rather lightly.

The moment he saw the glare pointed towards him, Dick realized that his casual approached had been the incorrect decision. He simply allowed her to grab his wrist and drag him out of her room. He heard the door close behind him, only to then be shoved forwards ahead of her with his back hitting the wall. Looking down at her, he was shocked at the explosive reveal of emotion in her eyes. Anger, hatred, coldness, pain, sadness, confusion…the whole revelation was the definition of inner turmoil.

"Look. Stay out of my room, and stay away from me. We're working on the same case together, but that's it. Once this case is over, you won't see me and you won't hear from me. Got it? If you think I'm some stupid little girl who is going to just swoon over you because you direct sweet words and smiles in my direction, then you are _sadly_ mistaken. So _stop pretending to actually care about me_ ," Jasmine spoke and Dick stared at her with an unreadable expression.

* _Is that what she thinks? That I'm pretending, and trying to get her to like me again so I can cause more pain? Dear God, Jasmine…you couldn't be more wrong._ * He thought, but he kept it to himself. Right now, it seemed what she needed right now was to vent to him about, well, him. So he let her. As she shoved the file to his chest, Dick raised his hand and took it.

"Now study and get caught up, because I'm sure as hell not going to be slowed down by you." Jasmine snapped at him, only to spin on her heels and stalking off. Dick's eyes followed her as she left. As she turned the corner, he gave a deep sigh and shook his head a little before glanced at the file.

"Well that was rather...explosive." He muttered, slowly starting to walk towards the manor's library to look through the file.

It was definitely going to take longer to mend things between them than Dick had previously hoped. She has led herself to think of these untrue assumptions so much that they have become fact in her own mind. To reverse that would take a while. For now, Dick supposed he would just have to get used to how she was at the moment while he tried to fix the damage he caused her at the same time. Hopefully the mending process would be assisted through the case they were working on.

* _I just need to keep acting like myself, and continue to be nice to her. I think the fact that she yelled at me like that is a step forward in a way. I saw confusion in her eyes, so she's questioning my behavior towards her. Hopefully, she will eventually think that it is because I actually care about her, not because I'm acting._ * Dick thought to himself as he stepped into the manor's library. Along the way, her relationship with Bruce and maybe even Tim could start restoring as well.

Dick sat at a small table within the room then opened up the file and began to scan through the contents. From what the papers said, the case started when word had it that Penguin was shipping more guns into Gotham. This wasn't a surprise, considering he's done it multiple times before. However, Jasmine hadn't found any of these so called guns. The notes trailed off for a little while until they burst back into action once again. This part, he was familiar with. She already explained how she had intercepted two of Penguin's henchmen while they were transporting some important, classified object in a briefcase. She followed one to the criminal's nightclub, where she learned that whatever he had planned was huge, and not only that, but would affect Bludhaven along with Gotham. Blockbuster would be used to get to Bludhaven, which was where Dick had come into all of this.

There was one thing that didn't make sense to Dick. He slowly closed the file then leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest in thought. Penguin wasn't exactly the cunning and manipulative type. Sure, sometimes he could be, but outfoxing Blockbuster? Even in his crazed mind, Penguin should know that doing such a feat would be near to impossible for someone like him. Now Joker would have been able to do it, since he was so unpredictable and not to mention completely insane. However, he is dead, and this isn't Joker. Then the whole plan to take over both Gotham and Bludhaven was also odd. Penguin has never shown interest in Bludhaven, so why now? After all these years, why target both cities for ultimate control when he could have tried long ago before Nightwing was protecting it? To Dick, it sounded as though he wasn't alone on this. He had another partner pulling the strings, maybe even playing Penguin to do as this person desires. Someone who had a grudge not only against Gotham, but also Bludhaven, or more specifically, the protectors of the cities. That led him to wonder if Jasmine was truly hiding something from him, since she surely would have come to that conclusion as well. The thought was frustrating, but at the moment, he knew he needed to suit up and go out onto the streets. It was time to gather more information. Hopefully after the night, things would start adding up.

Dick put all the papers back then stood up, holding the file under his arm as he began to walk back to his room. There, he set the file on his desk then took his Nightwing suit out before undressing. He quickly suited up, his mask being the last thing he put on, along with his earpiece. Rolling his shoulders, he walked out of his room and began his journey down to the Batcave. About halfway there, Tim turned up, carrying his shirt in his arms. Sweat covered his body, and it was obvious that he had been training.

"Tough workout?" Nightwing asked, pausing just for a moment and giving the boy a small smile. Tim, who had seemed to be lost in his thoughts, blinked back into reality then looked to the older hero in what seemed to be surprise.

"You could say that. Bruce had to go to a meeting, so Jasmine took over for a small part. I now have new bruises on my back." He sighed out.

"Don't tell me she whipped-"

"No! No, she didn't whip me. We were working on fighting with the staff. She jabbed me in the back is all." Tim spoke, cutting Nightwing off, "Speaking of Jasmine, shouldn't you be out in Gotham with her?"

Now this was news to Nightwing. "Isn't she in the Batcave, or getting ready?" He asked and Tim shook his head.

"Typical Jasmine," The young boy said under his breath before looking back up to Nightwing, "She let about twenty minutes ago."

* _You have to be joking._ * Nightwing thought to himself, frowning. He understood that she didn't like him as of now, but they were working together on this case whether she wanted to or not. "Thanks for the info, Tim. I better get going." He said. Nightwing clapped the younger boy on the shoulder before running off down the hallway before Tim could really respond.

Nightwing took the elevator down, crossing his arms over his chest and sighing in irritation. * _Her yelling at me I can take, but leaving without any word to go work on a case that affects both of us? That we are going to need to discuss._ * He thought to himself, walking into the cave as the elevator came to a stop and opened up. Immediately, he walked to one of the motorcycles that was close to the Batmobile and placed the helmet on. Sure enough, Batwoman's was missing. Nightwing had to admit that if there was much of anything he missed about working with Batman, it was the abundance of gadgets and technology. Not that he didn't have any, but he had missed the cool vehicles. Revving the engine a little, Nightwing then took off, going full speed to Gotham. Once he got to the city, he went to an abandoned street and dismounted the motorcycle and secured the helmet on it before it took off automatically. Now to find Batwoman.

Nightwing took out his line launcher and flew to the highest building in the area, looking over the city for a moment before taking his a device out and turning it on. The device was connected to the trackers in the vigilantes' suits. Sure enough, Batwoman's tracker showed him her direct location as a pulsing red dot. Memorizing where she was, Nightwing put the device away before taking off, jumping and swinging from rooftop to rooftop, hardly having to scan the street signs. Sure, he had been away from Gotham for a while, but he still knew the area like the back of his hand. Soon enough, he crouched at the edge of a building, looking down into the sketchy alley, and there was Batwoman. It seemed she was interrogating someone, as she had him pushed up against the wall by his collar. Straightening up, Nightwing simply jumped from the roof, landing silently to the ground in a crouch, the shadows concealing his location at the moment. He then rose to his feet and walked over before leaning his shoulder against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You should have gotten me." He spoke out, interrupting the low talking from the man. Batwoman glanced over her shoulder at him quietly, but the man smirked.

"Your boyfriend, Batty?" He spoke tauntingly, though he was ignored.

"You found me on your own." She spoke levelly. She let the man go, who set out a small sigh of relief, only for Batwoman to punch him in the temple, swiftly knocking him out. Nightwing narrowed his eyes a little at her before pushing off from the wall and strolling over.

"That's not the point. You shouldn't have left without me. We're working on the same case, Batwoman."

"You were taking too long, Nightwing, and I told you before. I'm not going to let you drag me down." She spoke in a matter-of-fact kind of tone while she bound the man up before getting to her feet.

Nightwing caught her arm and turned her a little to him, making her scowl but he didn't care at the moment. "This is not just your case. It is mine as well. We work _together_. I get I'm not your favorite person, but you're going to have to put up with it until we solve this whole problem." He said to her lowly.

"We're wasting time," Batwoman spoke, tugging her arm from his grasp and crossed her arms over her chest, "The man was a former member of Penguin's little gang. He wasn't very high up, but he said that there was something weird going on before he decided to leave. Apparently, one of his jobs was abducting homeless people, which of course, were never reported. He would take them to one of Penguin's old warehouses then leave."

While Nightwing was a little annoyed with how she hardly responded to what he said, she was right. They were wasting time they could be using to try and solve the case. He listened attentively as she spoke seriously and nodded slowly, "Abducting homeless people is a sure way to try and stay under the radar. Perhaps he was using them for some kind of experiment. Where is this warehouse at?" He spoke up.

"That's what I thought too. The thing is, we haven't come across any dead bodies that resulted from experiments." She sighed with a small shake of her head, "He said that the direct address was kept hidden from them. If anyone who wasn't supposed to find out discovered it, they were shot. He said it was enough to keep their heads turned. He doesn't know the address or what happened to the homeless people he brought there. The only thing he knew was that he was getting good pay for doing it." She said seriously and Nightwing frowned deeply in thought.

"What about street signs? Surely he knew the names of the streets he went down." He offered and Batwoman smiled a little.

"I came to that conclusion as well. I have a small path drawn out, but he said that when he and the other grunts got to a certain point, they kept their eyes down and just followed the map's directions rather than looking at the street signs." She said, pulling out a device and handing it over to him.

Nightwing took the device and looked to the screen, which had a red line zigzagging through some nearby streets before it abruptly ends at an intersection, "Well, we have a lead! Good job." He spoke to her, quickly transmitting the information to his own map-like device then handing it back.

"We should be heading off then." Batwoman spoke, taking out a small recording device and placing it with the man. She glanced at Nightwing before rising to her feet, "It has his confession to taking homeless people hostage. It should be enough to get him in jail."

Nightwing nodded to her clarification, "Alright. You take him to the GCPD. I'll start following this trail. Once the police have him in custody, rejoin with me. If I find anything before that, I'll contact you immediately." He said and she narrowed her eyes just a little.

"Yeah, okay." She sighed almost reluctantly, which he believed was because she was taking his orders. At least she knew better than to really argue with it.

Nightwing watched as she picked the man up and slung him over her shoulder before getting to her feet, grunting a little from the weight, if he were to guess. The man wasn't huge or anything, but he sure as hell wasn't small either. She picked up the recording device and pocketed it in her utility belt for now before giving him a small nod and walking off. Nightwing watched her disappear from the alley, then took his map-like device out and began to run to the red trail and follow it. As he passed streets, he made sure to glance at the street signs and keeping the names in his head. While this wasn't the Riddler they were dealing with, the street names could have a hidden clue within them if put together. As he reached the end of the trail, he came to a pause. The place around him seemed to be in pretty bad shape. The houses were run down and the sound of mice scampering around echoed off of the chipped brick walls.

Slowly, Nightwing began to walk forwards while keeping to the shadows, scanning around the area. He could either go straight, left or right. The problem was picking the correct way. He wasn't much in the mood for following an imaginary trail. * _Maybe a higher view will give me some insight._ * He thought to himself, pulling his line launcher out and shot it. He shot up to the roof then looked over where the streets would lead. Going straight would lead to a dead end. Right and left were both open contestants though.

Sighing, Nightwing ran a hand through is black hair and gave a soft laugh. * _I feel like I'm in a maze. Kind of like when Bruce and I had to go through the Mad Hatter's back when I was Robin. Except this maze isn't nearly as dangerous as that one had been._ * He thought to himself before something occurred to him. As he looked to the right, the buildings seemed a little fancier. At least, they used to be rather splendid it seemed. Penguin was always thinking high class rather than slums. Taking this as a possible hint, Nightwing jumped from the roof, immediately getting to his feet from his landing crouch and running down the small right street. A few gasps and shuffling caught his attention, telling him that homeless people had seen him running. Oh well. Slowly, he came to a walk and glanced around the buildings.

"Hero. Don't continue." A voice spoke in a shaky kind of voice. Blinking, Nightwing turned a little and looked behind him. A teenage girl, was standing up. Her brown hair was matted and dirt clung to her like an extra layer of skin. Behind her was an older woman with a younger boy, who was hiding behind her leg with owl wide eyes as he gazed at him. It seemed to him that the teenage girl was the one who was the boldest of the three, even though she also seemed rather timid and spooked.

"Why is that?" He asked and she swallowed hard.

"Well, y'see, people who p'st the ol' church don't return m'st of the time." She spoke. * _Aha. So this is probably the place then._ *

"Thanks for the warning, but I'll be fine." He said and the older woman shook her head.

"S'your death wish." She croaked out. Nightwing studied the woman for a moment.

"What makes you think I'll die?" He asked, a rather confident smile coming over him, to which the woman gave him an almost disgusted look.

"The dead bodies." The little boy squeaked, only to be hushed by his mother.

"Dead bodies, huh? Where?" Nightwing spoke, walking up to the three. The woman stepped away with the little boy, but the teenager stood there nervously.

"They show up here'n there. We get rid of 'em, but a new one h's turnt up." She spoke to him a little shakily. Sensing his presence truly seemed to scare her, Nightwing offered a friendly smile.

"Will you take me to the body? I'm trying to figure out about these disappearances and put an end to them." He told her gently. The girl looked at him for a moment, then glanced at her mother before returning her eyes to him. She swallowed hard before nodding quietly then taking off without a word.

Nightwing followed her down the street, then turned into an alleyway that was filthier than most. Beady red eyes peered at them from garbage, telling him that rats were present. At the end was a rusty chain fence. Leaning against the fence was a man. He was in a sitting position, and seemed to be sleeping. His head was ducked, shadowing and hiding his facial features. His arms hung loosely, both palms turned facing up towards the sky. One leg was stretched straight out, and the other bent a little. The teenage girl stayed back as he walked forwards, crouching before him. As expected, he was deathly still. Just to be certain he was indeed dead, Nightwing reached out and pressed his fingers to the mystery man's wrist. Which was covered by a white sleeve. No pulse. Definitely deceased. Reaching his other hand up, he pressed his finger to his communication device.

"Call Batwoman." He spoke, which immediately went through.

"You find something?" She spoke right away.

"Yeah. A dead body."

"Good!" Batwoman said brightly, then there was a small pause, "I mean…not good that there is a dead body, that's terrible, but good as in you found one…" She said trailing off awkwardly, and Nightwing couldn't help but smile, holding back a small laugh. Now _that_ was more like the Jasmine he remembered.

"No worries. I get what you mean. I'll wait for you to get here bef-" He began to say, when footsteps caught his attention, cutting him off. He looked before him, only for a metal pole to connect with his head, throwing him to the ground with a painful groan as his head swam.

"Nightwing?" Batwoman spoke urgently from his earpiece, clearly concerned.

Nightwing pushed himself up from the ground using his arms, trying to regain his footing, only for the side of his face to be struck, knocking his back to the ground. His eyesight kept swimming then clearing and he squeezed his eyes shut. * _Shit. This isn't good._ * He thought, hearing the whirling of the pole in the air. This time, he rolled to the side and heard the metal clang to the ground. He peered open his eyes, which were now more focused. Still, he was discombobulated and unsteady.

"NIGHTWING!" Batwoman shouted over the earpiece, sounding terribly worried.

Two men stood there, one with a pole and the other holding a gun. The man with the gun was standing back with a smirk, keeping the weapon pointed at him while the man with the pole was stalking up with a smirk. The teenage girl was standing in the back with her head ducked and money clutched in her hand. Her mother stood beside her with the little boy and was trying to coax her to walk away. As she raised her eyes, Nightwing met them, seeing the guilt in them before she ran off. * _So I was set up.*_ He thought with a deep frown before looking back to his attackers as the pole swung for his head once again. This time, he raised his hand and was able to catch it, though it was pulled back before he could get much of a good grip on it. Unsteadily, he rose to his feet, using the alleyway wall for balance.

"Hey birdie. As you can see, you are outmatched. I would suggest just coming with us before you hurt yourself any more. Our boss has a small bounty on your head, and would _love_ to meet you." The one with the gun snickered and he narrowed his eyes. These men didn't look like they were working for Penguin.

"A few lucky hits don't mean you have me outmatched. Your boss will have to get in line for my date list though. I have plenty of women I need to get back to." He smirked mockingly and the one with the gun scowled and pointed his gun at him.

"Well, he didn't say you had to be in good condition." He spoke thinly.

Nightwing took a wing-ding, about to throw it at the gun, when a batarang came out of nowhere and embedded in the criminal's weapon, making it useless. Then Batwoman dropped down, her whips uncoiling and the plates becoming spikes as she twisted the band. The man who had the gun cried out as the whip slashed across his chest, leaving multiple cuts, deep and shallow alike. Her other whip wrapped around the pole the other man had, tugging it from his hands then letting it fall from the whip and to the ground with a loud clatter. Nightwing let out a small breath, sitting down and leaning his back against the wall. She had this under control. Batwoman twisted her bands again, making the spikes become simple plates again, then twirled around, sending both weapons in a spinning arc and hitting both men hard in the head, knocking them to the ground. The one who had the gun was out cold, but the other one was just groaning lowly as he clutched his head. Batwoman grabbed him by the collar then punched him, letting the force knock him back to the ground, but it was enough to knock him unconscious as well.

"Great timing." He called to her as she walked over and bent in front of him.

"You idiot." She breathed, reaching out and gently turning his head a little where the pole had connected with the side of his face. He probably had blood coming from around his cheekbone. That was definitely going to be one nasty bruise. Nightwing knew for sure that his head was bleeding from the first attack, since he could feel the blood coming down from the side of his face. However, he was a little surprised at how she was acting, though thought back to her voice when she had shouted his name. * _So she doesn't hate me entirely._ * He thought to himself.

"Usually in cases like these, the girl kisses the heroic boy who got hit with a pole twice. Not call them an idiot." He smiled at her and she seemed taken aback before scowling, smacking his chest and pulling back.

"First of all, in this case, I was the hero considering I'm the one who saved you. Second, I thought you had been killed! Answer me next time, got it?" She snapped, crossing her arms over her chest, and he studied her.

"Were you worried about me?" He asked with a smug little smile.

"No. I just don't want anyone to die while I'm on a team with them." She muttered before turning away from him and shifting her attention to the dead body.

* _Liar._ * Nightwing thought to himself with a light smile before pushing himself up from the wall and walking over to the dead body as well. Thankfully, his head was starting to clear up and he didn't feel as unsteady as he had earlier.

"This man wasn't killed by a weapon," Batwoman spoke as she studied him, "There isn't any blood."

Nightwing scanned the body, nodding to what she said. Definitely killed by some other cause. It was something that then caught his attention. The cuff of one of the man's sleeves looked torn, while the other was neatly fitted. Dirty, but not in tatters like the other one, "I think I have an idea of how he was killed," He spoke, reaching a gloved hand out and picking the limp hand up. He moved the tattered sleeve up his arm and let out a low whistle. His arm was covered in what seemed to be syringe scars. He had been injected with a lot of something.

"Holy shit," Batwoman breathed then shook her head, "This still doesn't tell us much though. He could just have been a heroin addict." She spoke and Nightwing shook his head.

"This many injections of heroin in a short period of time? Some of these are still kind of fresh, which you can tell from the small bit of bruising he got after them when he was still alive. I think Penguin is using some new kind of drug on homeless people." He spoke lowly. Batwoman didn't have too long to reply when running footsteps caught their attention.

"GCPD!" Police shouted, rounding the corner and raising their guns. Nightwing and Batwoman glanced at each other for a moment as they stood up.

"Well this looks really bad. Let's go." Nightwing spoke and she nodded, taking out her batclaw and he his line launcher.

"We found the dead body. Those unconscious men are criminals. Have a good night!" Nightwing called, and then shot his line launcher the same time Batwoman shot her batclaw.

"Wait!" The police shouted, but it was too late. The two rose into the air and onto the roofs then ran off into the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* _Drugs have to be it. How could Penguin take over two cities with this drug though?_ * Jasmine thought to herself, doing pull ups on a pole in the training area. It was late morning, probably about 10:30 a.m. So far, she had been training and working out since about 7 a.m. Her thoughts had been swirling in a continuous cycle about what had happened last night, from the dead man and his injection scars to Dick getting attacked. Dropping from the pole, she crossed her arms over her head and arched her back as she stretched for a moment before picking up her water bottle. * _I mean, Blockbuster would be able to get it out around Bludhaven. The thing is, how can that result in him being manipulated? He wouldn't take the drug himself if he knew it has the potential to cripple two largely populated cities. It just doesn't add up._ * She thought to herself with a sigh, sitting down and taking a drink of water.

Oh course, Jasmine also had to consider Red Hood in all of this. The mysterious new criminal hadn't shown up since two nights ago when he was at Penguin's club. At least, not to her knowledge. A part of her couldn't help but think that it was he who was really in charge of all of this. Not Penguin, though the fatter man thought he was. Then it also made her think back to the men who attacked Dick. They hadn't been Penguin's followers, and if anything, Penguin would want Batwoman for hearing some of "his" plan, not so much Nightwing. If anything, she had to consider that those men had been working under Red Hood. Then that left one question. Why would he want to meet with Nightwing? What connection was there? She had taken into consideration that it almost seemed like some kind of revenge plot. Attacking both Bludhaven and Gotham? Sure, they were very close together, but she couldn't overlook the obvious connection between Nightwing being in Bludhaven, and Batman, Robin and her here in Gotham. To Penguin, perhaps it was about control, but Red Hood? It seemed to have a deeper meaning to him, since he didn't seem like one to be bribed with money. He wanted this plan of his to fall into action, and that meant there must be a motive. He sure didn't seem like her father, who simply raised chaos for the hell of it. No, he was much more focused, and prepared, while Joker had been more unpredictable than anything. Right now, her objective was finding Red Hood again. That meant leaving the manor without a word to Dick and turning her tracker off so he couldn't trace her. Sure, he was going to be mad at her for doing it, but there wasn't anything he could really do to stop her in this case.

* _Speaking of Dick…_ * Jasmine thought to herself, setting her water bottle aside then walking up to a small group of dummies and began to punch, elbow, knee and kick them as though they were a gang she needed to take out. * _I still have feelings for him._ * She thought, her eyes narrowing at the thought and she rammed her elbow back into a dummy's head then punched another. * _No matter how hard I've tried to hate him over all of these months, it comes back to this. Hearing him cut off over the intercom…my heart stopped for a beat. Then when he didn't respond and all I could hear was the thud of his body hitting the ground and the sound of a metal pole…I thought he was dead. I don't think I've run as fast as I did last night in my whole life, hoping that he was still alive. I can't deny the relief I felt to see him standing when I got there._ * She thought, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before bursting back into action as she beat up the dummies once more. * _I let my façade slip in front of him. It just felt so natural working with him. For a moment, I was able to forget our differences. But…that was a mistake. Now he probably has a good idea that I do still care for him. That will only lead to more problems. I tried to play it off, saying it was just that I didn't want anyone I was working with to die, and while that was partly true, I know he sensed my reactions ran much deeper. I'll have to try harder to push him away…what else can I do?_ * She thought to herself, stopping her attacks as the last dummy hit the ground with a loud, echoing thud. Her heavy breathes was the only sound for a moment. Rolling her shoulders, Jasmine started picking up the dummies then walking back over to her water bottle and taking a slow drink.

"You should take a break and go get some breakfast." A voice rang out, and Jasmine lowered the bottle from her lips and peered open her eyes.

"I'm fine." She spoke simply, setting the water bottle down.

"You've been training since seven, Jasmine. You need to regain your energy." Bruce responded, slowly walking over to her.

"I have enough energy, thanks." She muttered, turning her back to him and picked up a punching bag, hanging it up, and then landed a few punches to it.

"Fine, but we still need to talk." He said lowly, coming behind the punching bag and holding it still as he gazed at her seriously.

Jasmine took a small step back from the punching bag, lowering her fists, "What about?"

"You know exactly what needs to be discussed, Jasmine."

She clenched her jaw and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away for a moment, "If you want an apology, you aren't getting one."

"I don't want a simple apology. I want an explanation. You've been acting like this for long enough, and you need to get over it. If you need to talk someone through any problems-" Bruce began, reaching a hand towards her.

"I don't need your help! I'm fine," Jasmine said sharply, stepping back from his outstretched hand.

Bruce studied her, slowly lowering his arm, "Is this about your parents, specifically your father?" He asked and she met his eyes.

"No," She spoke lowly. He sighed, walking up to her, this time successfully putting his hand on her shoulder lightly, though she looked away.

"Are you being honest?" He asked lowly and seriously. Jasmine narrowed her eyes and cut her gaze to his coldly.

"Yes. I am quite sure that I am not distraught over the death of my psychopathic father. That's the _last_ thing I would be upset over. All that man had ever done to me my entire life was cause pain. I'm _glad_ he's dead, Bruce!" She spoke fiercely and he regarded her coolly, seemingly unaffected.

"That wasn't what I meant. I mean your bloodline to Joker." He spoke to her in a patient tone.

Jasmine was silent for a moment before pulling away and turning her back to him and started walking away, "I'm going to take a shower." * _How…how did he guess that? I can't believe I just let that small outburst out._ *

"Jasmine-" Bruce began.

"Just leave me alone!" She snapped, but paused midstep. Her shoulders slumped a little and she closed her eyes, "Please." She spoke in a soft, hushed voice. She wrapped her arms around herself as she entered the elevator that led back up to the manor.

Jasmine walked out as the elevator opened, heading towards her room to shower. * _Maybe…I've been wrong about Bruce. Maybe he does care. Why else try to reach out to me?_ * She thought to herself, entering her room and closing the door quietly behind her. She gazed at Dick's sweatshirt, which was still resting on her bed. She had been going to give it back to him yesterday, but he was about to look in her sketchbook. That was something she didn't want him to look in. Her sketchbook was like her diary, in a way, and the last thing she needed was for Dick to be aware of her innermost thoughts. Slowly she walked over and brushed her fingertips over the sweatshirt for a moment, feeling the soft fabric beneath her fingertips and thinking back to when he willingly handed it to her back at his apartment. At the time, she hadn't given him any reason to be kind to her as he had. Jasmine sighed and pressed her hand to her head. * _Nothing makes sense. Dick's behavior, Bruce's concern…_ * Jasmine soon took out clothes including a simple olive green, long sleeved shirt and casual black pants. She carried the clothes to the bathroom and started the shower before she stripped her workout clothes off and stepped in. As the warm water washed over her, Jasmine let out a soft breath of relief and tilted her head back. * _Not even this case I'm on is clear. Everything is covered in a thick layer of mist._ * She thought to herself, closing her eyes in a sad-like manner before lathering shampoo into her hair and rinsing it out, followed by conditioner, which she quickly rinsed out from her hair as well.

Once she was finished, Jasmine turned the shower off and stepped out, immediately wrapping a towel around herself and wringing her hair out until it was simply damp and not dripping wet. Then, she pulled her clothes on and tugged a brush through her hair. * _I just need time to think and sort things out._ * She thought to herself as a possible solution, walking out of the bathroom and her room. She made her way outside, successfully able to avoid running into anyone. Seeing Bruce at the moment would be…awkward. Tim would attempt to talk with her and she would have to treat him as a pest to keep him from getting close to her. Alfred would want her to eat, but she wasn't hungry. Dick…running into him was never a good situation. So the fact that she had been able to steer clear from all of them was a rather good and relieving one to her. The large tree she typically read under came into view and she walked over to it, sitting at its base and leaning her back against it with a small smile. Her eyes turned up to the sky. Being outside was still something she liked to take advantage of. A part of her was almost scared it would be barred off from her again. Different colored leaves drifted lazily through the air, and birds sang out softly in the distance. It was a beautiful and peaceful September day. She took a deep breath, letting that cold façade of hers fall now that she was alone. The coldness that usually inhabited her eyes melted until they were simply sad. The anger or distaste in her eyes dissipated, filled more so with the loneliness that she had brought upon herself.

* _It's only been three days since Dick came back, and already, that wall I spent so much time trying to build is already starting to crumble, as if it were made of pebbles. I've spent my time pushing everyone away to protect them from me. From the curse that I am so no one meets a fate like Jason's. As for Bruce and Dick, I've kept them farthest, since I was only taken in so I wouldn't be unattended on the streets. So an eye could be kept on my every move. At least, this is what Dick told me. But now everything seems so backwards._ * Jasmine thought, pulling her legs to her chest and loosely wrapped her arms around them, though her eyes remained lifted up at the sky. A little red leaf clung to her hair, but she didn't bother to dismantle it at the moment. * _Dick isn't acting how he had. Like back in his apartment, he seemed almost upset when we clashed if anything. As if it pained him. Then when that girlfriend of his walked out, he really didn't seem all that upset about her leaving. When I yelled at him…he just took it. He didn't react or strike back. He didn't tell me I was correct in that he was acting or wrong. All he did was stand there and looking at me with this unreadable gaze. Dick simply let me shout at him, and be cruel to him, and he took it without a single word. What made him mad was me running off without him. Of all things, he got mad because I left, not because I chased off his girlfriend, have been cold and cruel towards him and showing obvious dislike. Why is he treating me so nicely? He said that he could never love the daughter of Joker and Harley Quinn. That Jason's death was my fault. I want to believe he is doing this for some malicious intent, but…that just doesn't seem like him._ * She thought, sighing lightly.

* _Then there is Bruce._ * Jasmine thought, frowning back as she thought to their interaction earlier. * _He was reaching out to me. He was trying to figure out why I am acting how I have been so he could help me. Why would a man who didn't care about me do that? Is it a way to seem deceptive, or could it be that he has always truly cared? Could Dick have lied when he said that I was only taken in so I wouldn't be loose on the streets? If so, then what motive did he have for lying about that? Alfred keeps telling me that Bruce has had only good intentions when it comes to me. That I had earned my place here, and it wasn't handed to me._ * She sunk her head into her hands, feeling tears prick at her eyes. * _What is reality and what is not? What should I believe?_ *

The slight sound of crunching of leaves caught Jasmine's attention. Quickly wiping her eyes, she then slowly looked up, only for an apple to start coming towards her. Reaching up, she caught it then shifted her eyes over. Her gaze met Dick's familiar gray-blue eyes as he walked up to her, his hands pushed into his pockets, and this light, gentle kind of smile curved on his lips. A small breeze then stirred his slightly long black hair, throwing a few strands over his eyes. The injury he had gotten on the side of his face had an x-like bandage over the cut. There was a light bruising along his cheekbone as well, but it wasn't too bad. From what she heard last night when she eavesdropped on him and Alfred talking, he miraculously didn't have a concussion, just a bump on his head from the first attack. Dick came to a stop in front of her, regarding her and she could feel that stupid heart of hers pound a little. Jasmine shifted her eyes away, narrowing them slightly. * _Damnit._ *

"Alfred told me to bring you the apple." Dick spoke, clearing his throat a little and she blinked.

"Déjà vu." She breathed, glancing at him, noticing that he had a light smile.

"Almost. If I remember, you were reading a textbook instead of just sitting there." He spoke, slowly walking over and sitting beside her. She glanced at him almost warily as he sat by her before lowering her eyes to the apple.

"Yeah. A textbook on astronomy to be exact." She said quietly, a small smile abruptly coming over her, "You teased me for it." * _Stop, Jasmine. He isn't sincere in all of this._ * She reminded herself before inwardly sighing. * _I'm tired of pushing everyone away right now._ *

"Oh yeah," Dick spoke, laughing slightly. She could feel his eyes on her, but she just kept her eyes lowered and staring holes into the apple she clutched tightly in her hand. He could easily come to the conclusion that she was more so upset than angry at the moment if he looked into her eyes, and with that came all of her inner, hidden emotions that she has spent her time concealing.

"Wow, that apple seems like one interesting fruit." He spoke lightheartedly, and she couldn't help it. A small laugh came from her. It was just so… _Dick Grayson_ to say that in such as awkward situation.

"What can I say? The shade of red is rather astonishing." She played along and he chuckled. A small silence stretched between them, and Jasmine could practically feel the tension between the two of them as they sat beside each other.

Jasmine swallowed hard, continuing to stare intensely at the apple until the lightest of touches brushed over her cheek. Her heart seemed to jump and she glanced over, seeing that Dick's fingers were skimming over her cheek before moving to her hair. Her skin prickled softly where his fingers moved against, only for him to gently pull the small red leaf from her hair and held it up. It was just like last time, though it had been a dandelion fluff not a leaf. Their eyes met, and she found herself unable to look away.

A breeze tugged the leaf from his fingers and his moved his hand out again, resting it on her cheek and ran his thumb along her cheekbone. Jasmine's heart was racing and her breath caught as Dick's hand lowered, and he brushed his thumb along her bottom lip as light as the touch of a butterfly's wing. Then, he gently tilted her face up to his and leaned close to her, their lips only a small distance apart. Her heart was pounding, and while she would like nothing more than to kiss him…she couldn't do that to herself. She couldn't get close to him during their case, only for him to crush her before he left and went to Bludhaven again. So, Jasmine turned her head from him and closed her eyes painfully.

"Stop. Please just leave me alone, Dick. I don't know what…this…is to you, but it means a hell of a lot to me. You already hurt me once. Is that not enough for you?" She breathed out quietly, pulling back from him and turned away. She could hear Dick pull in an almost shaky breath.

"Jasmine, I…" He began, and she shook her head, standing up.

"Goodbye, Richard." She whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and started walking away. Tears sprung to her eyes and she gritted her teeth. * _No. Stop. Not now, Jasmine. Wait till you are alone…don't let him see. I need to leave and go to-_ * She thought, only for Dick's arms to come around her waist, stopping her from walking and abruptly cutting off her thought process. She felt him pull her back against his chest then rest his head on her shoulder, making her breath catch for a moment.

"Jasmine. What I said to you…I didn't mean any of it. It isn't your fault Jason died. You aren't a curse, and I don't regret taking you from that house and away from Joker and Harley. Taking you in wasn't an act. You earned your place here because you genuinely care about helping other people, and have the skills and determination necessary to strive. I said what I did because I didn't believe that I deserved the happiness you brought me. I didn't deserve you, and Jason…Jason liked you before he was taken, and yet I still pursued you. I thought that you deserved someone much better than what I could offer to you, but I knew that you would only leave me alone if…I broke things off between us and severed our connection. I'm so sorry, Jasmine. I…I wasn't thinking straight. Everything I said to you that day was a mistake." He spoke to her, and Jasmine listened, a tear trailing down her cheek.

Slowly, Jasmine pushed his hands down from her and turned to him, meeting his eyes with her tear-filled gaze. "I'm unlovable, Dick, and you should know that better than anyone. All I am is what my parents made me to be. A weapon, and nothing more. So I don't know why you're doing this…why you're trying to hurt and confuse me. But nothing has changed. We'll work on the case together, but after that, we're done. You won't hear from me, and I'll continue avoiding you like I have been. Lying isn't your strong suit. No one can ever love the daughter of Joker and Harley Quinn. Especially not you." She said quietly, the turned on her heels and quickly walked away. This time, footsteps didn't follow her.

Jasmine exited the yard, her apple still clutched tightly in her hand. * _Why? Why did he have to talk to me? Why can't he just leave me_ _ **alone**_ _?_ * She thought to herself, holding back her tears. * _I need to get out. I can't be here right now._ * Jasmine quickly walked towards the garage, brushing past Tim without a word, who looked after her with wide eyes. He was about to say something to her, but she entered the garage and let the door slam behind her, feeling only a little guilty about it. Honestly, she didn't feel like talking through her problems at the moment. She wanted to get away from them. Going to the motorcycle she took two nights ago, she pulled the helmet on and was about to climb on before pausing. She then quickly found a piece of paper and a pen then scrawled down that she went into town and set the apple on it. Then, she went on top of the motorcycle, kick-started it, and quickly drove off. She just wanted to drive and clear her head. At the moment, she wasn't ready to go to the place she had in mind. She needed time to herself.

* _Jasmine. What I said to you…I didn't mean any of it._ * Dick's voice echoed in her head, and she narrowed her eyes a little bit, but not in an angry manner, but more of one in confusion. As if narrowing her eyes could help in coming up with the right answer. Could she trust him? Could he be telling her the truth? * _He looked right into my eyes and told me that he could never love me. Dick has never been that good of a liar. What he said must have been true…right?_ * She thought to herself. * _Yet I wish that I could fully and completely believe what he said. That he didn't mean any of it, and only said what he did because he thought so badly of himself. I wish I could just…believe him, and not think that he is cynical. But I can't. Not after all of this time I've spent pushing everyone away and ruining my relationship with the people who took me in. It couldn't have all been for nothing. I know they can see my father in me. That my eyes are similar to his despite the blue merged within their depths. But maybe…maybe I'm completely and utterly wrong._ * A kind of panicked like feeling settled in at the thought. * _I shouldn't be driving,_ * Is what came to mind then and she took a few deep, shaky breathes to calm herself down.

Glancing at the street signs, Jasmine pinpointed her location then directed the motorcycle to the right, going down a street. She continued making turns until she came to a stop at an apartment. The apartment wasn't grand, and seemed a little more on the rundown side of things. However, this was exactly where she needed and wanted to be at the moment. She parked the motorcycle and turned the engine off. She then swung off of the vehicle and removed her helmet. As she walked up towards the apartment, she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tame the mess then walked up the steps and stopped at the door. She paused before knocking. It had been a while since she came here, now that she thought about it. After a few seconds of waiting, the sound of muffled footsteps came from behind the door, and the sound of it being unlocked rang out. Then, the door opened.

"Jasmine…come in."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"No one can ever love the daughter of Joker and Harley Quinn. Especially not you."

Dick stood silently as Jasmine walked away from him, her strides quick and rushed, her shoulders slumped a little. The apple he brought her was clutched tightly in her left hand. This time, he didn't try to walk after her to explain himself further. Perhaps…it was better for him to let her go so he wouldn't hurt her anymore. He hated seeing her cry. When he had cut things off between them a year and five months ago, the hardest part was looking into her eyes, seeing the anguish and pain within them, along with the tears the spilled down her cheeks, and knowing he was the one who caused it. It was like torture. He had thought that maybe since she had seemed so…concerned for him last night, that talking to her would be the best move. Sure, it had only been three days, but her concern and the fact that she eavesdropped on him and Alfred told him all he needed to know. Despite how much she has lashed out at him, she still had feelings. He _knew_ she did. If he explained his actions to her, Dick was hoping that she would be able to not only forgive him, but also whatever she was beating herself up about. However, he was terribly wrong, and maybe, it would always be like this. Maybe he had hurt her bad enough that he couldn't repair the damage.

Dick's head was ducked a little, his eyes cast in shadow and his hands shoved into his pockets. * _How can I get her to understand that I have never stopped loving her?_ * He thought to himself, a small breeze stirring his hair and making him shiver just a little. Sighing quietly, he raised his head and looked up at the sky. * _What do I do? How can I make it up to her? I don't want to lose her completely, but it feels like I already have._ * He squeezed his eyes shut, thinking to just a few moments ago when they sat under the tree together. Sure, the moment had started off as awkward because of the elephant in the room. However, when he touched her cheek lightly and pulled that leaf from her hair, he met her eyes. It was like that awkwardness drained out for a moment. Like it was just the two of them. Maybe he shouldn't have done it, but Dick decided to let his impulse win, and leaned forward to kiss her. It reminded him of when they were together, even if it was just for a moment. However, her reaction and what she said discouraged him drastically. * _Maybe it would be better if I give in, and leave her be like she wants._ *

With that thought, the memories of their interactions came over Dick in small flashes behind his eyelids. The softness of her lips, the cute little gasps she made when he surprised her, the light pink coloring of her blush and the warm, loving smile directed towards him that made her cyan colored eyes glow like shallow ocean water. Their light-hearted teasing, holding her small, petite hand in his larger one, holding her to his chest, feeling her fingers running through his hair. Her laughter. Dick missed every single little moment. The thought that all of it could be gone…his chest felt like it was constricting at the thought. Then, a small defiant fire went through him, and he opened his eyes, looking over to the tree he had nicknamed Jasmine's Tree, since she was there so often. * _Since when have I so willingly given up? Standing here doing nothing isn't going to accomplish anything. I love Jasmine, and I am not going to just give up on her. If she truly hates me and wants me to leave her be, then she wouldn't have ever reacted to the way she did when I simply touched her cheek. No, I'm not going to give up. She means so much more to me than that._ * He thought strongly to himself, straightening up, and looking back over to where she had walked off.

With his newfound determination, Dick walked the way Jasmine had gone with every intent to speak with her once more. The least he could do was try to elaborate, if anything. Just letting her walk away could show that he didn't care, which was far from the truth. As he entered the manor, he peered into the kitchen, seeing Alfred and Tim there. The two looked over at him and Tim waved in greeting. Dick waved back, but his eyes scanned for Jasmine, who was nowhere to be seen. *Maybe she is in her room.* Dick considered, about to turn around.

"Master Dick, there is no point to go search for Madam Jasmine. She left a few minutes ago." Alfred spoke up, making him pause then look over his shoulder.

"Left? Where?" He asked urgently, and Tim shook his head.

"We have no idea," Tim spoke quietly, "She took a motorcycle and just left."

"Didn't Bruce tell her-" Dick began and Tim shook his head.

"You really don't get it yet, do you?" He sighed, "Jasmine does what she wants. It drives Bruce up the wall, but he's too worried about her to punish her for it, since he says the only time she seems calm and collected is when she goes on the streets. He also doesn't want to place her under tight house arrest, because he doesn't want her to compare him to her parents, or something like that. If you ask me, she needs to get over herself, and is causing more trouble than it's worth. If I were Bruce, I'd kick her out."

Dick frowned a little at what Tim said, but studied the boy, who looked mildly annoyed and frustrated about the entire thing. "Master Dick, perhaps you should explain Madam Jasmine's position to Master Tim. He has been kept in the dark for a rather long time." Alfred spoke up before leaving the kitchen. *Looks like I don't have much of a choice. Alfred is right though.*

Dick walked over to Tim, who was glaring down at a glass of water with his lips pulled into a frown, close to a scowl. He sat beside him then sighed quietly. He understood Tim's frustration. In fact, it impressed him how patient he has been with everything. At his age, Dick would have been angry over the fact that something was clearly being kept from him. After all the time that it had been kept from him, he was remarkably well-tempered about the entire thing.

"What about Jasmine do you know already?" He asked and Tim laughed a little humorlessly.

"Only how she's acted around me. I haven't been told anything about her past, and Bruce said I'm not allowed to look into her information on the Batcomputer, since it's up to her to tell me."

"Well, let's start from the beginning then." He spoke; knowing it would be more summarized that anything. Even he didn't know the entire story, but he knew enough. Bruce was the only one who knew everything. "First of all, Jasmine is the daughter of the Joker and Harley Quinn." He began, and Tim shot his eyes to him in shock.

" _What._ " He breathed out, though Dick just continued on.

"Jasmine used to be transitioned between four houses. She's stay in one for a few months, then move. This was so Batman could never really pinpoint a constant and exact location if he ever found her. When she was five, one of these houses burned down with her inside it. A police officer saved her, but her father showed up and shot him in the head," Dick spoke and Tim leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest with a deep frown.

"In front of her?" He asked and Dick sighed lightly.

"Of course. This was Joker. He didn't care, and Jasmine didn't either. She told me that when she was younger, she acted just as anyone would expect her to. It was when she was seven that a woman was brought into this. Her name was Risuka Tamashi. I was ten when she went missing, and no one ever found her. As it turns out, she was a master at wielding whips, and Joker wanted Jasmine to be able to fight without just the use of guns, since guns tend to be rather ineffective against Batman. So, Risuka trained Jasmine physically, but she also became a mother to her. Jasmine says that it is because of her that she ended up so differently from her parents. Risuka taught her discipline, respect and gave her morals. She made her human instead of being a weapon her parents could use at their will," He explained, leaning back in his chair.

"Risuka's training was intense. She whipped Jasmine five times a week until she no longer cried out at the pain. Then, after that, she taught her how to actually fight with them. If you look closely at her back sometime, you should see faint silver scars all over her skin. Despite this, Jasmine still looked up to Risuka. She took Joker and Harley's place, and showed her how to love and what it felt like to be loved back. However, it was all taken from her on her fifteenth birthday when Joker shot Risuka in the head right in front of her. They were trying to escape the house they were contained in and go to Japan where they could live as mother and daughter and get away from Jasmine's parents." He spoke, pausing for a moment. Tim remained silent, his elbows resting on the table and his hands covering his mouth as he listened.

"To put this simply, Jasmine became extremely depressed, and she hated her parents. Joker mostly, but she loathed both. I don't know a lot of the details of what she did during this time, I just know that she started expressing herself through drawing. Other than that, I think she just stopped caring and just did what she was told. A part of her hope was sucked out that she could be anything more than what her parents were bringing her up to be. I found her in one of these houses four years after Risuka died. I visited her only a few times, but I knew she wasn't like her parents. I could just see it. She wanted something more out of her life, and she didn't want to become them. I convinced Bruce to at least meet her. Jason and I had taken her here, where eventually Bruce accepted her to train under him. Not that she wasn't good at fighting, but she only knew how to fight to kill or fatally injure." He explained, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath.

"During the time she was here I…developed feelings for her. Jason did as well, though he was more aware of both mine and his feelings for her. I can't speak for how Jasmine felt the entire time. She's always been one of the only people I can't read well. Before Jason went missing, he told me to let him have a chance with her. The thing was…Jasmine and I became more aware of our feelings while he was gone as well. We were together when the video of him dying was sent. At the time, I blamed myself for everything. I also told myself that I was a terrible brother to Jason, considering I didn't visit him and Bruce for approximately two years, but also because I couldn't find him and got together with the girl he told me to give him a chance with while he was captured by Joker. Then Jasmine…even in her own pain she tried to comfort and console me. All I could think was how she deserves a man better than me, and hell, I didn't think I deserved the happiness she brought me. So, I cut things off between us…by hurting her, and telling her that I never, and could never, love her. That the only reason she was even accepted was to keep another criminal off the streets, and that's it. I called her a curse, and told her Jason's death was her fault. I crushed her…" Dick spoke, closing his eyes painfully.

"Jasmine trusted me, and I broke that trust. I never could have imagine that what I did would have destroyed her in a way that she pushes everyone away from her, conceals her emotions and mentally beats herself up. She's afraid to put her trust in another person at this point." He said, slowly opening his eyes. Tim continued to be silent for a moment before speaking up.

"Then what happened just now-"

"I was trying to explain that I didn't mean what I said to her. It wasn't much of a surprise as to why she was upset, and she didn't believe me. Instead of trying to confront her pain, she tried to escape it. So that's what she did," Dick spoke quietly before meeting Tim's eyes, "I know it seems like she doesn't like you, Tim, but I don't think that is the case. I think she is simply wary of letting you come close to her and her becoming anywhere close to you."

Tim leaned back a little before shaking his head slowly, "The daughter of Joker and Harley Quinn…who would have thought." He breathed and Dick studied Tim for a moment.

"She was a surprise to everyone." Dick spoke quietly and Tim nodded.

"No wonder she's acting the way she is. It's like she loses everyone she cares about, or thinks that they are using her. Dick…how are you going to fix this?" Tim asked seriously, his eyes holding a sad light for Jasmine.

"My plan has been to treat her like I use to, and to explain to her why I said what I did. Eventually, I hope that she doubts the false facts in her head and starts to see everything for as it is. She's smart and observant, so I'm hoping it will work. She may not forgive me for what I said to her, but I haven't given up just yet. The ultimate goal is that she'll open up to everyone like she had before this all started up.

The two boys lapsed into silence for a moment, each within their own thoughts, though Dick pulled from his to study Tim once more. The thing about the kid was that he had this great, unique ability to understand people, no matter what the situation. It was something that he saw start to come through in Jasmine, though Tim seemed to have a stronger connection to this little skill. He was able to place himself in other people's shoes, and feel what they feel simply by imagining the situation. There were plenty of people who would have rejected Jasmine just be hearing who her parents were. That she would be mentally unstable at some point on her life, and they would completely disregard her character and all of her past. Even though Tim is young, Dick had to admit that the kid was wiser than the majority of those his age, and even people far older than him.

"Thank you, Dick. For telling me," Tim spoke, meeting the older boy's eyes, "Sometimes I feel as though Bruce fears doesn't entirely trust me. He hides everything about Jasmine from me, and he hardly ever explains what happened to Jason to me. I really only know that Joker killed him after torturing him for days on end. I k now he's wary, and doesn't want the same to happen to me, but I wish he would rely on me more than he is." Tim sighed.

"You don't deserve to be kept in the dark, Tim. Bruce does trust you. He just isn't very…open. I used to fight with him plenty of times because he wouldn't tell me certain information when I asked about it. I went against his word and looked plenty of things up in the Batcomputer against his orders, and while it got me in trouble, it kept me up to date with everything. Bruce became more relaxed on that stuff when Jason came in, and he exposed more of his world to him. Jason was able to take it well, and he excelled on the streets with Bruce. The thing is, Bruce is trying his hardest not to repeat what happened to Jason with you. I think that by not telling you as much, Bruce believes that you are better protected. I understand how frustrating this is, but I also understand where he is coming from." Dick said and Tim sighed lightly and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

"But I'm not Jason Todd, Dick. I'm Tim Drake. I've heard from Bruce that Jason was pretty reckless, and I'm just…not. I evaluate my situations and think through them logically before acting. I know my limits, and I don't pretend as though I am any higher than what they are. I know he's wary about my having the same fate as Jason, but no offense, but there is always the danger of being captured by some insane criminal, being killed or tortured. We fight Gotham's most notorious criminals, for crying out loud. It comes with the job, whether it is horrible or not. I understand the risks, and I have taken them upon myself willingly, just like you and Jasmine have and just like Jason had.

"Jason may have been reckless at times, Tim, but he was a great Robin. He didn't overestimate his abilities, and his fighting skills were catching up to mine." Dick spoke more sharply than intended before glancing away with a light sigh. "I'm sorry. Look, I know where you are coming from. I lived it. If I was in your shoes, I would probably resent Jason, because his death is the reason why Bruce treats you so carefully. But yes, you're right. We all willing took the risk of fighting crime in Gotham. You also have to remember something else though, Tim. While your fighting has improved drastically from when you first came here, you aren't ready to handle the big criminals on your own just yet." Dick said to him seriously, and Tim was silent for a moment.

"Resent Jason? You have no idea. It sounds terrible, to resent a dead man, but I do. I have to live in the shadow of the Robin who died. No matter how hard I try, everything I do is compared to him. My training is even focused on him! It's not about Tim Drake, it's always about avoiding being like Jason Todd. Not making a mistake with me. At this point, I'm _never_ going to be ready to handle the big criminals on my own. There will always be something Bruce needs to fix, or won't allow me to do or know just to protect me. I don't want to be babied, Dick." Tim said quietly.

Dick couldn't help but feel bad for Tim, who just wanted to be treated like he was actually a valuable member of the team. What he didn't understand was that he was already. With this, he actually did agree with Bruce on his training. The training he was putting Tim through was even harder than Jason's, while being careful at the same time. It would make him better prepared, and hopefully avoid a situation like Jason's. While in his eyes it seemed as though his training was focused around Jason, it truly was pinpointed on him. It wasn't Bruce babying him, but making him even more ready that any other Robin, even Dick, before going out on his. Explaining this to Tim at this point would be a waste of breath though. The boy would need to see the conclusion himself when it came to it. The best he could do was try to make it seemed better than what he thought it was. Dick got to his feet and walked over to Tim, resting his hand on the younger boy's shoulder.

"It's okay to resent Jason. I get it, but Tim, everything Bruce is doing is because he cares about you. He's really proud of you, and I am too. Don't get down on yourself, okay?" He said to him with a warm smile. He felt Tim relax under his touch then look up at him, smiling lightly.

"Yeah…thanks Dick."

"Of course, kid. If you ever need to talk about something, don't be afraid to ask." He grinned, moving his hand back from his shoulder before walking to the side and opening a drawer, pulling out some playing cards, "Now how about a card game?"

Dick brought the cards over to the table, where he then began to set up the card game, Speed. Jasmine taught it to him, since the two of them had eventually had those card games. She kicked his ass every single time, but he wouldn't lie. It was a fun game. He had to teach it to Tim, and the two of them both started out rather slow, with Dick winning the majority. However, as Tim got the hang of it, he began to steal those wins. They remained playing the card game for quite a while, which became a battle of slapping down cards and frantically drawing the next ones in the deck. After only about a minute, Tim smacked his last card down just a second before Dick's before throwing his arms up in victory.

"Ha! Beaten once more! No one can defeat the amazing Tim Drake!" He cheered and Dick burst out laughing.

"I call a rematch! That win should have been mine!" Dick protested and this was Tim's turn to laugh.

"You're just jealous of my abilities." Tim said smugly.

"Who taught you those abilities?" He smirked in response.

"Quiet. Hear that? It's the sound of your defeat." He grinned. Dick opened his mouth to say something back, only for the door to open. Both boys looked to the door, and Dick's eyes widened a little and rose to his feet.

"Jasmine." They both said at the same time. She stared at them silently; her eyes shifted between them then looked to the cards before looking past them and walked forwards. Dick couldn't help but worry for her once again. Once again, she seemed to be completely secretive and closed off. He couldn't tell what she was feeling or thinking.

"Where did you go?" Tim asked her softly and she paused a little to glance at him.

"That's my business." Is all she responded with in a thin voice, and Dick narrowed his eyes a little. As she walked past Tim, who looked at her in disappointment for having brushed his concern off, Dick caught her arm, halting her in her steps.

"We were worried. You left without a word or saying where you were going. At least give us an answer, Jasmine." He spoke to her firmly, only to then smell something…odd. Gently, he pulled her closer to him. The scent was definitely coming from her.

"What are you-" She began, cutting off as he moved his face closer to hers for a moment before narrowing his eyes.

"You smell like men's cologne." Dick spoke lowly. He couldn't help it. Jealousy flared inside of him. Was that where she went? To see some boy? Did they have…his heart stopped at the thought. Surely not. Surely she wouldn't have but…she had the lingering scent of a man's cologne. The thought of her with some other man in a romantic way made the jealousy about ten times stronger. How she reacted to him earlier…had that been an act on her part? He could have sworn that it was an honest reaction.

"So what?" She spoke coldly, tugging her arm from his grasp and stepping away from him.

"Dick, maybe you should-" Tim began awkwardly, stepping forwards to try and keep this from exploding, but Dick cut him off. * _How can she think this isn't a big deal?!_ *

"So _what_? You worried everyone to see some playboy! How many times have you left without a word to see some boy and allowed everyone here to wonder just where the hell you went?" He exclaimed and she scowled.

"You don't know _anything,_ Dick Grayson." She snapped, starting to stalk away from him.

"Oh, I don't know anything? How many times have you had sex with him out of self-pity for yourself?" He asked coldly. Jasmine froze, her hand resting unmoving on the handle of the door leading out. * _Wait…what am I saying?_ *

"Dick…" Tim breathed warily.

Dick didn't have time to regret or feel guilty about what he said before Jasmine whirled around, marching right up to him. Her blue-green eyes blazed in anger, but he could see the pain hidden within their depths. "Of ALL people, _you_ dare accuse _me_ of having sex out of self-pity?! For your information, Grayson, I don't sleep around with a multitude of men like you do women. Even if I did, it is NONE of your business what I do with my personal life! You have no clue as to what I was actually doing this whole time, where I was, or WHO I was with, for that matter!" She spoke fiercely. * _The amount of women I have been with doesn't matter! All that matters is you, Jasmine!_ *

"It _is_ my business, Jasmine! You're self-destructive! For all I know, you can be lying right now about it. From how you've been acting, I wouldn't put it past you. I would also like to have you know that I have never slept with some woman out of self-pity for myself! Who even is this boy anyways?!" Dick burst out.

"Now you call me a liar? You're a hypocritical _jackass_. His identity and any details of him are my business, and you don't need to know. You aren't my boyfriend, _hell_ , you aren't my _anything_! I find it funny how you get mad at me but you've probably banged a dozen girls in the past few months!" She snapped angrily, and he narrowed his eyes, feeling a sharp pang in his stomach. * _I'm not anything?_ *

"I told you the truth, Jasmine! It's you who refuses to believe me. You don't allow yourself to see reality, and then blame everyone else for how blind you are. And don't try to turn this back on me! I'm not the one sneaking off. I'm not the one seeing some secret girlfriend. I'm not the one who has been making everyone here feel awkward or putting them down," He said sharply, seeing her avert her eyes for a moment, but the jealousy and pain burning in him wasn't done just yet, "Do you seriously think Jason would be proud to see what you've turned yourself into? Some little girl who puts the people closest to her down and then mess around with a random man on the side to feel better about herself? You're letting yourself be used, Jasmine! Get your head straight and actually think for once! Do you seriously think this guy is-"

"Richard, LAY OFF." Tim shouted, shoving Dick back from Jasmine. He stumbled back, catching his footing then looked up. Jasmine's eyes were cast in shadow as she stood there silently. Tim looked between the two of them for a moment, and Dick closed his eyes tightly. * _I let my jealousy take over._ * He thought guiltily, slowly opening them and standing up straight, starting to take a step towards her.

"Jasmine-" He began, his voice a little shaky and soft but cut off as Tim shook his head at him, giving him a 'shut up this is not the time' kind of look.

"Are you okay?" Tim asked Jasmine in a soft voice and Dick leaned back against the counter, resting his head in his hand. * _I just royally messed up. I can't believe I exploded like that on her. The thought of her being with some other guy…to think I had actually wanted that for her at some point. It kills me just imagining it, which is so entirely selfish._ *

"Shouldn't you be training?" Jasmine spoke up, her voice emotionless except for the small quiver in it. "I'm going to my room."

Dick lowered his hand to his mouth, raising his eyes as he watched Jasmine walk out the door, letting the door close with a soft click. Silence stretched in the room and Tim looked over at him. "What the hell was that, Dick?" He breathed and Dick lowered his head into his hands.

"I…I don't know, Tim."

"Well…it seemed to me that you got jealous and fearful about her being with some other guy, so you lashed out when she treated it as if it didn't matter. It's unlike you to do that though, Dick. You're usually collected. I think the best thing for you to do is to apologize." Tim said firmly. Dick sighed lightly, lowering his hands and looking to Tim. * _A seventeen year old is giving me advice._ * The thought made him smile only slightly, though it quickly disappeared.

"Yeah. I just hope I can fix this." He murmured, starting to walk out of the kitchen. Dick made his way to Jasmine's room, stopping just outside of it. Slowly, he knocked on the door. Of course, there was no answer, but he heard a small shuffling sound.

"Jasmine. I know you're in there." He said quietly. No answer.

"I'm sorry about what just happened. It was uncalled for." He spoke, waiting and hoping for some kind of answer. He received nothing. Just deafening silence. Dick pressed his forehead against the door, closing his eyes. "I lost you once, Jasmine, and that was my fault. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could bring you back. But you remain out of reach, and I fear that I have lost you even more than I had before." He spoke in a mere whisper.

The sound of footsteps caught his attention, and Dick pulled back from the door, only for it to slowly open. Jasmine stood in the doorway, looking up at him silently. There it was again. That turmoil in her eyes that she always tried so hard to hide. As she stood there, Dick himself felt rooted in place. He wasn't sure what to say to her or what to do. He already messed up, and there was no doubt in his mind that any kind of trust he may have started rebuilding was now damaged once again. As she moved closer, he closed his eyes expecting her to slap him, punch him, scream at him…just anything. Instead, he felt one of her hands rest on his shoulder then moved to the back of his neck before the soft pressure of her all too familiar lips brushed against his. Surprise moved through him at first, but he pushed it aside and quickly reacted, wrapping his arms around the small of her back and drawing her close to him as he kissed her back deeply.

Slowly, Dick ended their kiss, though their lips remained close to each other's for a moment. Dick opened his eyes, only to meet hers, and searched them, trying to figure out what she was thinking. What she was feeling. However, instead they closed their eyes and kissed with more urgency, as though they were in some life and death situation, and this would be the last kiss they every shared. He drew her closer to him, and felt her hand move into his hair, lightly running her fingers through it. * _Please…don't disappear from me again, Jasmine. Don't close yourself into that shell of self-hatred. Come back…I love you…_ *

Before it went any further, Jasmine slowly pulled away, breaking off the kiss. Gently, she rested her hand on Dick's chest and pushed him back from her. He stared at her as she stood there quietly for a moment. Her eyes were gazing at the ground, her face unreadable. Silence stretched between them once more except for their slightly faster breathes.

"I really shouldn't have done that," Jasmine whispered, slowly looking up at him, "Go away, Dick. Please. Just go away." She said in this small voice before closing her door, shutting Dick off from her completely. He was speechless, his heart pulsing almost painfully. Go away…after that? How could he just go away? He stood rooted to the spot, staring at the door before taking in a breath and rose his fingers to his lips for a moment. Then, he slowly walked away, wondering what just happened, and why exactly it had happened.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"What do you mean you kissed him?"

"Exactly that."

Batwoman was crouching at the edge of a tall building, her eyes locked on a particular "abandoned" building. She was in the area of the slums where Nightwing had been hit with a metal pole. Well, into the dangerous part of it anyways. The part all the homeless kept away from, since apparently, people only came out of it dead. Naturally, she wasn't exactly scared of this particular aspect. The man she had interrogated before Nightwing showed up had explained what the building looked like to her, since he didn't know the exact address. Now, all she had to do was wait to see if anyone showed up. So far, almost an hour had gone by without any suspicious activity, and to pass the time, she had called Oracle to talk about the rather confusing events that took place earlier that day.

"I thought you didn't, you know, want anything to do with him." Oracle spoke up and Batwoman sighed.

"I don't. That's the problem. Every time I push him away he refuses to keep his distance. He keeps getting closer, and each step he takes towards me, the more I trust him again. I thought I had all of this figured out…but I just don't know anymore."

"Maybe this is for the better, Jasmine. I mean…no offense but it isn't like you've been the greatest, well, company since…" She trailed off, not mentioning Jason's name. Batwoman winced a little at what she said.

"I know I haven't been. I actually hesitated talking to you in the first place, but Oracle, I'm growing tired of hurting everyone and being lonely. I thought I could do this because I've been alone and concealed my feelings for almost all of my life. It helped thinking that Nightwing and Batman didn't care about me, but with everything now pointing to the opposite…I'm starting to believe Nightwing when he told me that everything he said to me hadn't been true," She explained in distraught. There was a small pause for a moment.

"Does this mean you are going to finally get help, Jazz? Your thoughts…you need to talk them out and you need help. Anyone could see how they are destroying you. If you talk to Bruce and tell him what you've told me, then he'll help you. He does care about you, Jasmine. As for Dick…that's complicated. Why were the two of the arguing today anyways? Maybe we can figure this out before your bad guys show up." She offered in a gentle voice. Batwoman scanned the area for a moment. Still nothing. She didn't have much of anything else to do as she waited, so speaking with Barbara wasn't a bad alternative.

"Well…I left the manor to see someone. He accused me of sleeping around out of self-pity, and it just exploded from that." She spoke quietly.

"Dick accused _you_ of sleeping around? That's kind of funny considering he's been with _plenty_ of women over…sorry, not helping. Anyways, who did you go to see?"

"I can't tell you that, but I will say that he and I aren't involved. At all." Batwoman spoke and there was silence for a moment.

"Well, there's your answer! You were with a boy. Jasmine, Dick got jealous, especially since you are going to be so secretive about this mystery boy." She exclaimed.

"Jealous? Why would he be jealous just for the reason of me not wanting to mention the boy? He's making false assumptions while he should be taking my word for it." Batwoman frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh Jasmine…you really do need to interact more. Listen. If you left without a word and returned saying you were with a boy, he's going to think that the two of you are either friends or dating. Then, you decided to be secretive about it. That alters his view from friend to either boyfriend or friend with benefits. If any of these are true, that means you're involved with another boy…obviously. In turn, that makes him jealous because he _still has feelings for you_ and doesn't want to see you with some other guy _._ Then you kissed him and tossed him out of your room after you fought, which was probably confusing for him, to say the least."

"Oh…I see. He still had no right to accuse me of sleeping around. He was right when he called me a disappointment though. J would be upset with me if he were to see me now. As for the whole kissing thing…Oracle, I have no idea why I did it. I knew I shouldn't have. I…I was so hurt, not to mention angry, after our fight. What he said…about not wanting to lose me…I could hear the pain in his voice. The sadness. I don't know, Oracle I just…I hated to hear him so upset."

"Jason would have been acting in a similar way if Dick told him what he told you. You and Jason were alike in many ways, Jasmine. Being hard on yourself like this is only one of them," She said gently then was quiet before speaking about Dick, "I thought you wanted him to be upset."

"I did but it doesn't make anything better, Oracle. It only makes things worse. I don't want to cause him pain. At one point I did, but seeing him upset has never brought me joy or a sense of redemption or anything." She sighed softly.

"I hope that you see now that you aren't like Joker after making that realization. Your father would enjoy causing him pain. You don't. Remember that. Going back to Dick, do you believe what he told you? About having said those things to push you away? I know that you said you were starting to, but to what extent?" Barbara asked.

Batwoman had winced a little when Barbara mentioned her father. Like Alfred, and now Bruce, she was one of the few people that knew she related herself to her father. That she thought she was much too like the deceased Clown Prince of Crime, which was one of the many reason why she had stayed away from everyone, "No….yes? God, I don't know. I'm so confused, Oracle. I hate the man, and I lo…like him at the same time. I can't decide whether I should believe him or continue to push him away until this whole case is solved, like my original plan." She spoke, but raised her fingers to her lips and closed her eyes. * _I missed how we had been more than I realized. Hell, I miss_ _ **him**_ _more than I realized_.* She didn't know what she felt towards Dick Grayson anymore. It was complicated and confusing, much like what had happened earlier that day. They fought, and then she kissed him, which only made that fear of trusting someone rise in her again, which influenced her to get him away then shut the door in his face. She hated to be that stereotypical emotionally confusing girl but it seemed to be that she was.

"Did you almost say that you lo….speaking of the devil…sorry Jasmine. Dick's calling, give me a second." Barbara spoke then cut off their connection.

Batwoman remained silent as Barbara cut off then stood up straight to stretch out her aching muscles from crouching at the edge of the building for so long. She stretched her arms over her head and arched her back, hearing her back pop a little from it. * _Damn. Where are my targets at?_ * She thought to herself with a frown, crossing her arms over her chest as she gazed at the rundown building just below her. Her red cape fluttered faintly in the wind as she stood there, gazing down coldly. By the time it had been taking, she was going to be waiting for hours on end. At least, that was what it seemed like. Honestly, the place was a little eerie. No one was dwelling around. There were a few stray cats that scampered this way and that, but other than that, nothing. Whatever was going on was definitely freaking out the homeless. Batwoman would have already gone into the building, but she didn't want to compromise her position or the fact that she was onto Red Hood. The men that attacked Dick had most definitely been Red Hood's goons. They had to be. That meant whoever was terrorizing this area must be Red Hood in disguise by using Penguin's name. Penguin's title scared people more than some new villain's. It was a smart tactical move, but not smart enough to blind her from it. Abruptly, her earpiece came to life as Barbara contacted her once more.

"Jasmine. Where. Are. You?" She spoke lowly and Batwoman held back a sigh. * _Shit._ *

"In Gotham." She answered vaguely.

"Yeah, no shit. You know what I mean. Turn your tracker on _now_. I don't care that you have to work with Dick. Jason's death is not being repeated with you. Turn it on." She spoke strictly.

"I'm dealing with this myself, Oracle. I don't need help from Nightwing, and I don't want it. This is the only way to keep him away. Sorry, but it's staying off until I'm finished with my objective." She spoke stubbornly, then saw a car coming up, "I have company."

"JASMI-" Barbara's voice cut off as Batwoman disconnected their call and crouched down once more.

The car rumbled to the front of the building before coming to a complete stop. Out of the driver's seat came Red Hood. This was the second time she has seen him now. Last time, he had seen her in the shadows, but she was well out of sight at the moment. Besides, he would have no idea that she was on to him, let alone in the actual area. Just as she guessed, he didn't seem to look towards her hidden location, but instead crossed his arms over his chest as goons came out from the passenger side seat along with the backseat. The ones from the backseat carried an unconscious woman out with them, holding her by her arms between them. Batwoman narrowed her eyes, about to drop down and attack, but something stopped her. Why did they need the woman? * _I'll wait to see their plan. Then I'll attack._ * She thought to herself firmly.

"Take her into the building and strap her to the table," Red Hood ordered in his masked voice, holding up a gun, "You know what happens if you don't."

Immediately, the goons followed Hood's instruction, dragging her to the entrance before pulling her through. Red Hood followed just behind them, but paused at the entrance. Batwoman narrowed her eyes, then pressed herself low to the ground, letting the shadows wrap around her like a welcoming friend. She watched as he seemed to be scanning over the surroundings. His head seemed to pause where she was just for a second before he continued his inspection. Batwoman lied there, not moving a single muscle until Hood was certain no one was there and disappeared into the abyss of the building. She rose to her feet then pulled her batclaw out, shooting it. She then swung into the air, letting go of her batclaw and landed on the roof, somersaulting and staying in a crouch when her feet hit the surface.

Batwoman stayed there for a moment, keeping her ears strained to see if anyone was coming to her general location. When only the faint whistle of the wind answered her, she stood up and glanced around. Sadly, there didn't seem to be a hatch on the roof she could use. That left the windows, which would either be a hit or miss when looking through it. However, she didn't have too much of a choice in the matter. Sighing quietly, she took out her grappling hook and walked to the edge of the building. Quickly, she attached it to the edge of the roof then jumped off. Her feet quietly made contact with the side of the building, and she slowly started moving down until she made it to the first window. At the moment, she couldn't see too much, other than Red Hood and his goons were on the first floor. Now, all she had to do was hope the window wouldn't make a sound when she came through.

Attaching the cord to her utility belt, she then worked on the window, carving a circle into the glass and catching the chunk before it fell. She then reached her hand in and unlocked the window, which then completely came loose. Gritting her teeth, Batwoman caught the edge of it before it banged against the wall. She tossed the glass piece over to the side before slipping silently through the window and quietly closing and relocking it so it wouldn't bang against the wall. Once this was done, she turned and looked over the edge of the walkway she was on, seeing the goons standing in front of Red Hood expectantly as he studied the woman, who was starting to regain consciousness. The woman's arms and legs were bound to a gurney-like table. The whole bottom floor was set-up to look similar to a lab. A specific table had this bright blue vial in multiple glass test tubes. Syringes and other medical supplies were neatly organized on another table. * _What the hell is this?_ * Batwoman thought to herself, crouching down and turning on a recording device so she could record everything that was about to be said.

"Where…where am I…" The woman muttered quietly, her eyes slowly blinking open.

"That isn't of importance." Red Hood spoke up, tilting his head to the side. One of his goons immediately got a syringe then walked to the table with the blue concoctions.

"Y-Yes it is! Who are you! What are you going to do with me?" The woman shouted, evident panic rising in her voice. She started straining against the bonds to no avail.

"Well you see, you are going to be used as a simple experiment to perfect something I've been working on. If I am correct, you don't have any friends, family or home here. So telling me someone is going to miss you if you die will be pointless." Red Hood said matter-of-factly.

"You sick son of a bitch! Let me go!" She wailed. Batwoman swallowed hard, wanting to help her but…she needed to see what this drug could do.

"Inject her with the serum." Red Hood spoke, stepping right in front of her and crossing his arms over his chest.

The man who had filled the syringe with the blue concoction walked up to the woman, who was thrashing against her bonds, though is hardly did a thing. He jabbed it into her neck and injected the entirety of it into her. The woman shouted curses at them, but they trailed off along with her straining. Slowly but surely, she just started to lie their quietly. Batwoman narrowed her eyes. She was definitely still alive. What did the vial do to her?

"Release her from the bonds." Red Hood instructed. Two of the goons came forward and untied the woman, who didn't move a muscle to try to escape or anything. She just stared at Red Hood blankly, seemingly with no emotion.

"Stand up." Red Hood ordered her, and without hesitation, the woman did just that without a word. The villain slowly started to circle her then took one of his guns out and held it out to her.

"Take the gun, and shoot yourself in the head." He spoke clearly. The woman took the gun then raised it to the side of the head. She cocked it…then stood there, her hands starting to shake. Batwoman watched in horror, feeling frozen in place. Her father raising a gun towards Risuka's head flashed before her eyes.

"How annoying. Give her another injection." Red Hood spoke sharply. Of course, this action was carried out hastily, and the woman's hands stopped shaking. Before Batwoman could recover and react, the gunshot rang out and red exploded from the woman's head. She collapsed lifelessly to the ground, and Batwoman saw Risuka getting shot in the head right in front of her and lowered her head into her hands, her body shaking slightly. Hood bent down and picked up his gun.

"It needs to be stronger. It was much too easy for the victim to fight against the drug's control. She should have done everything I say without much hesitation." He spat, walking over to the table with the test tubes filled with the blue mystery drug. He picked up some papers and flipped through them quietly. The goons were shifting uneasily on their feet. Meanwhile, Batwoman got ahold of herself and turned the recording device out. She then got ready to take out the drugs and bring Red Hood to justice. This drug couldn't get on the streets.

If Batwoman were to guess, it directly affected the brain's thalamus and brainstem, which would alter a person's dependency. It made them entirely susceptible to whoever they saw first, which in this case, had been Red Hood. It turned them into mindless slaves. However, it seemed that if asked to do certain tasks they are strongly opposed to, the victims could fight against the drug's hold on their brain. If this drug was to be distributed, and Penguin broadcasted himself on every screen in Bludhaven and Gotham, well, he would be in control of the majority of the population. In other words, he would take over both cities. He probably planned on having Blockbuster getting injected as well, which was how they would deceive the underworld crime boss. She also predicted that the drug itself was highly addictive, which was extremely concerning since it was unknown how much of this stuff was needed for someone to overdose. An overdose would probably overload their dependency and need for orders. For example, they wouldn't breathe unless told to.

Batwoman rose to her feet, taking out two batarangs and threw them towards the liquid drug in the test tubes, however, Red Hood immediately whirled around, holding his guns up and shot them both with perfect aim. Gritting her teeth, she jumped down, landing in a crouch and resting her hands on her whips. A small laugh escaped Red Hood and he slowly walked forwards.

"Well, well, well. Did you like the show, Batwoman? I knew you were there. I just wanted you to feel the hopelessness at the thought of this drug getting distributed to both Gotham and Bludhaven. It's going to bring both the cities to their knees," He spoke, spreading his arms out a little then looked to his henchmen, "Pack up the product. I'll take care of our pest problem." He ordered, and they immediately scurried over to the table, opening a metal briefcase and started placing the vials in.

"You aren't doing this because Penguin is paying you, are you? You truly hate those two cities." She spoke lowly, throwing another batarang towards the henchmen, but it was only shot down by Hood.

"Observant. I like that. Well, Penguin _is_ paying me, yes, but I'm the one who came up with the entire plan. I could honestly care less if he gained control of the cities or is stopped. All I care about is their suffering. More importantly, the suffering of their protectors." He spoke darkly, pointing his guns at her then shot them. Immediately, Batwoman rolled to the side, dodging the bullets, and throwing two more batarangs, this time at him, before getting to her feet and uncoiling her whips with a loud crack as they hit the ground.

"Oh-ho! Now you're getting serious!" He said, evident amusement in his voice and she scowled.

"What do you have against Nightwing and Batman, Hood?" She asked coldly, lashing both whips out lightning fast. What surprised her was that he stood there as her whips wrapped around his guns, and she flung them away.

" _Everything_." He spoke lowly. He then came forwards in a blur.

Batwoman swiftly lashed her whips towards him, on making him dodge to the side and the other heading straight towards his arm. However, he grabbed the whip with his hand, as though he knew her tactic. * _What…_ * She thought to herself in disbelief. Her eyes had widened in shock for a moment before she twisted the band on the hilt of her whip, making the spikes of her caught whip unleash. Red Hood yelped out in pain as the spikes dug deeply into his hand and let go of it, coming to a stop and skidding a little to the side from the momentum of his speed.

"Damn that hurt. I forgot about those spikes." He spoke with a laugh and she glared at him, gritting her teeth.

"What do you mean _forgot_? _"_ Batwoman demanded lowly and he moved his head a little to the side and sighed.

"You know, I'm a little disappointed you haven't guessed yet. I thought you of all people would have." He stated, and then moved towards her again. This time when she lashed her whips out, he willing let one lash his shoulder, but what shocked her was that he didn't even wince like everyone else did. He pushed forward, making it to her and caught her arm then twisted it behind her and pushed her up against the wall roughly. He pulled her arm behind her back tightly and she narrowed her eyes at the pain that came from it.

"It's like you already know my moves. Explain yourself!" She snapped, only to be met with a low chuckle.

"You know, the last time I remembered, you weren't this serious."

"We don't know each other."

"Oh, but _Jasmine_ , we know each other much more than you understand. In fact, we are alike, you and I," He spoke to her lowly then let go of her arm, only to elbow the side of her face, causing her to fall to the ground from the impact, "I look forward to seeing you again."

Batwoman moved onto all fours, looking up as Red Hood ran off, having retrieved his guns. She had underestimated him. The goons had already made it out. Quickly, she got to her feet, staggering a little to the side as her head throbbed from getting elbowed. However, she recovered quickly and sprinted out of the building, only to see the car speeding away in the distance and turn a corner before she could take her tracker out.

"Shit!" She cussed, staring after where Red Hood and his members disappeared off to. * _Oh, but_ _ **Jasmine**_ _, we know each other much more than you understand. In fact, we are alike, you and I._ *

"How did he know my name?" She questioned under her breath, narrowing her eyes. At least he confirmed her predictions. He wasn't doing all of this for the money, but to punish the cities' protectors.

Shaking her head, Batwoman then found the tracker within her suit and reactivated it. Nightwing would probably be at her location in only a few minutes. She walked back into the building and immediately headed over to the table where the liquid drug had been kept, looking for any signs of a drop that would have been left behind. Bingo. It was just a small pool, but it would work. As long as she got a sample of it to the Batcave, then a cure should be able to be created. Of course, that didn't mean that they shouldn't try to stop the shipment. The cure would be a Plan B. She pulled out a few tools, carefully getting a sample of the drug from the small pool that was on the table then placed it into her utility belt.

Next on the agenda was to look for any of Red Hood's blood. She refrained from looking at the dead body for the moment. She knew it would bring an overbearing weight of guilt, and she wasn't ready to handle that just yet. Batwoman looked around the area she had fought with Red Hood, but there wasn't any blood on the floor, miraculously. It was pretty annoying too, since she knew that his hand had been impaled by her spikes and her whip made direct contact with his shoulder. Now that she thought about it though, his gloves were probably extremely thick, and the leather jacket he wore had probably been able to catch the blood. Still, the man had been lucky he didn't leave any behind. Sighing, she then turned to the dead woman and slowly walked over to her, crouching by her body.

"I'm so sorry." Batwoman whispered, ducking her head. Another person was dead because of her, and all so she could see what that stupid drug could do. She picked information over a life. * _Has Bruce taught you nothing, Jasmine? Has Risuka taught you nothing? Life is the most important and valuable thing in this world, and I just allowed one to be stolen before it was ready to be taken._ * Suddenly, a weight came down on her shoulder, and immediately she swung her arm back, only for it to be caught. She turned her head, only to see that it was Nightwing. She relaxed and slowly lowered her arm as he let go of it.

"What happened?" He asked her quietly, but his voice had an edge to it, telling her than he was pissed. Not that she blamed him. * _I should have listened to Barbara…I never should have turned my tracker off. I should have sucked it up, told him about Red Hood. Red Hood and his goons may not have escaped and the woman…she may be alive right now._ *

Slowly, Batwoman rose to her feet and looked at Nightwing from over her shoulder. Right now, she pushed their fight aside. She just didn't care at this point. It didn't matter. Besides, the entire thing was her fault. Dick wasn't the one who was the problem here. All of it was her. "I let her die, Nightwing," She whispered, closing her eyes, "It's my fault."

"Batwoman, you didn't-" He began, his tone more concerned and she shook her head.

"Yes, I did. She was taken from the streets to serve as a guinea pig for the drug Penguin is creating. After only one injection, it makes that person completely dependent and obedient to whoever they see first. At least, that's my take from it. They were testing their latest form of it, and she was completely overcome by the drug when it was injected into her. She was told to take a gun, then shoot herself in the head," She spoke, her voice haunted as she recalled it, "She was able to fight against the drug, but they injected her a second time and she committed suicide without hesitation. I didn't intervene. I wanted to see what the drug did but I…I didn't stop her…all I saw was Risuka and I felt frozen." She spoke shakily. Batwoman then felt Nightwing take her arm and gently pull her to his chest, wrapping around his arms around her in a hug.

"It's okay." He murmured to her softly, and she stood there silently, her forehead resting on his chest for a moment before she opened her eyes. Slowly, she drew back from him.

"I'm sorry…for leaving without you and turning my tracker off." She said to him genuinely before looking away, "I thought I could do this alone, but I was wrong. It won't happen again. You have my word," She spoke, meeting his eyes and a small smile came over him.

"Good. It makes me really anxious when your tracker turns up with 'no signal.' Anyways, the drug affects dependency?" He asked, growing serious once more.

"Yeah. It probably targets the brain's thalamus and brainstem. They become extremely obedient, as I stated before. If they are asked to do something they are extremely against, in this case suicide, they are able to fight against the drug's control. Of course, this all depends on amount and the person's own strength of will. After the second injection, the woman pulled the trigger without a second thought. My thoughts are that if someone were to overdose, they become so reliant on an outside source that they won't even breathe without the order." She said and Nightwing frowned deeply.

"My God. This really doesn't sound like one of Penguin's plans. He's never gone to this kind of extreme. This reminds me more of the Mad Hatter, if anything. You know, I'm starting to think there is someone else in charge here." He said and rested his hand on her shoulder, "You've been keeping something from me, haven't you?"

Batwoman averted her eyes from Nightwing and stepped away from him. * _Just tell him. Tell him about Red Hood._ * She thought to herself, but something was holding her back. The fact that he somehow knew her was concerning, and while it may be smart to tell him of it along due to how Hood was involved in the case, she couldn't help but feel that it was personal. Personal enough that she wanted to stay quiet until she knew a little more.

"No. I haven't," She stated to him sharply and crossed her arms over her chest, "Anyways, I got a sample of the drug. In their haste to get away, some henchman let a little spill onto the table."

By how Nightwing paused before answering, Batwoman knew that he didn't exactly believe her claim to not be keeping anything from him, but he didn't dwell in the matter, "Good. I was going to suggest we look around for some kind of sample for a plan b. We should notify the police of this place and the woman then leave." He said to her. She nodded, leaning back against the wall as he contacted the GCPD.

"Alright. Let's go." Nightwing spoke up once he was done.

Batwoman didn't say anything. She simply nodded then walked out of the building with him. The two of them called their cycles then waited, though it wasn't really that tense for once. However, with a glance at Nightwing, she could tell he seemed to want to tell her something. He kept glancing over at her then looking away, as though he were collecting his thoughts or gaining the confidence to actually ask whatever it was he wanted to. She sighed softly, and then tapped his shoulder lightly to gain his attention.

"You might as well tell me whatever it is you're fretting about before you explode or something." She said to him. He looked at her for a moment before rubbing the back of his head.

"About the fight we had…" He began and she frowned a little and looked down.

"All is forgiven. There is no need to discuss it." She spoke firmly and heard him sigh.

"I think there is a need to discuss it. I should explain myself."

"Like I said, there is no need to. Let's just forget it happened." Batwoman responded, walking to her cycle as it came up next to Nightwing's and swung her leg over it.

"I don't want to pretend it didn't happen, Batwoman." He responded, moving onto his own cycle and she swallowed hard, glancing at him for a moment.

"Do you want to talk about the fight, or after it, because I only have a limited amount of answers for you, and honestly, I'm not too keen on sharing any." She said, guarding her emotions as she said it, seeing the frustration rising in him. He shook his head slightly then looked ahead of him.

"I would have preferred us talk about both, but if you won't cooperate, there really isn't a point, is there?"

"No. There isn't," Batwoman spoke quietly before taking off to the manor. Nightwing followed not too far behind her.

For the most part, Batwoman didn't want to talk about it because she didn't completely comprehend everything yet. Not only that, but what he said during their fight still hurt, though it was truthful. Well, not the sleeping around part, but the rest. She knew that eventually, the two of them had to talk through things, and in all reality, she was starting to want to. She wanted to forgive him, and stop pushing him away. She did miss him, and what they once were. At the same time, that fear, perhaps irrational at this point, still lingered, and she had a hard time with simply the mere thought of placing her trust in other people again. * _Still…I can't go on how I was. I thought that I didn't need people in my life, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Even the daughter of chaos needs interaction. It is something that makes you human, and not some kind of emotionless being, and I slipped back into what I once was. What my parents had wanted me to be. I let them win by becoming it in my pain and my grief. It's time to eliminate what I once was, and be Jasmine Quinn again._ * She thought to herself strongly, a small smile coming over her lips. * _It's time to move on, and put the past where it belongs. Behind me._ *


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this chapter took so long! It has been extremely hectic with school and other events and activities. I've barely had the time to write, but finally, I have completed this chapter. It's a little short, but the next one's length will probably make up for it. At least, that's what I'm hoping! Anyways, sorry for the long wait. I hope to get the next installment up in no later than two weeks. Thanks for reading, and I hope you like the chapter!**

 **-Bookreader777**

Chapter 8

Dick woke up in the morning with a small yawn, throwing an arm over his eyes to block out the light streaming in from his window. After a few moments of trying to get over his drowsiness, he sat up and leaned back, opening his heavy-lidded eyes. Last night had been long and worrisome. Not that he had been that surprised when Jasmine decided to leave on her own after they fought, but turning her tracker off? He wasn't going to lie. It made him pretty mad, but not only that, it had also made him extremely worried. The only thing he could have done to find her was ask Barbara if she could contact her, or look for her himself. The thing was, finding one person in all of Gotham without any leads was practically impossible. The city was much too large for that. Then, when Barbara did contact her and tell her to turn her tracker on, she simply disconnected from the comm, putting her in an unknown position. If something happened to her, or if she was taken, then they would have had no way of finding her, just like Jason. Unsurprisingly, this had put Dick on edge, and he had constantly looked to the tracking device, hoping that she would do what she was told for once and turn it back on.

Eventually, Jasmine had reconnected her tracker, to which Dick had instantly gone to her location. The thing was, she didn't turn it on early enough, and Bruce saw that her tracker was disconnected. Lucky for her, she turned the tracker on after a few minutes of him finding out about it, but it didn't do anything to lessen his anger towards her for the stunt she pulled. While he probably would have waited for her to return to chew her out, he had been busy on a case. If Dick were to guess, he was going to lecture her this morning, though he also had a feeling that this lecture wasn't going to turn out that well. It wasn't unknown for Bruce to say things he didn't entirely mean when he got overwhelmingly pissed. Hopefully, he had been able to cool off during the time between the incident and whenever Jasmine and Bruce crossed paths. However, the likelihood was rather low. The man could keep a grudge. Dick knew that more than just about anyone.

At this point, Dick knew that Jasmine was keeping some kind of information from him. She had made it blatantly obvious last night once he had arrived at her location. The question was what she was keeping from him, exactly. If he were to guess, it was another person who was involved in the whole epidemic. Someone who had come up with the plan and spoon-fed it to Penguin. Penguin wouldn't have come up with a plan such as this, which he had become completely sure of from what Jasmine found out about the drug he wanted to distribute. It was more up Mad Hatter's ally with the whole mind control aspect, and yet, here was Penguin using it. So that meant there was a missing piece to the puzzle. He needed to find the real boss of this operation. If he or she had been taken down earlier, and the whole drug run would have probably shut down. At this point though, that wasn't too much of an option. The drug had basically been completely developed, which meant its distribution was going to go down sooner rather than later. All he and Jasmine could do at this point was hope to catch hint of a date, place and/or time, then stop the shipment before it reached the druggies of Gotham and Bludhaven, which would spread to other people eventually as well.

The only really good news was how Jasmine had acted towards Dick last night when he found her. It was definitely a positive step forwards, even if they did have that one fight. Of course, he regretted everything he said to her during the dispute. She had actually let him hold her to his chest when comforting her about the woman's death. He had understood the guilt she felt, but at the same time, it wasn't entirely her fault. She had no idea that the woman's orders would be to shoot herself in the head, let alone the fact that she would freeze up when seeing it. Every one of them probably would have waited for a moment to see what the drug did. It was vital to figure out what this new substance would do. The thing was, she was also correct when she said that if he had been there, the night would have resulted differently. Dick was glad that she had made that connection, and relieved that she would no longer be running off without him on this case. The bad news? Jasmine didn't let them discuss anything regarding their fight. She pushed him away when he tried to, which made him exasperated, but it wasn't like he could force her to speak about what happened. Still, she seemed to be getting better than how she was a few days ago. He did know that eventually they would need to talk about, well, everything really. Hopefully, she would cooperate sooner rather than later.

Dick glanced out the window, thinking back to when she had kissed him. It had been…confusing to say the least. Perhaps it had been in the heat of the moment, or she actually meant to. Still, her reaction afterwards still left him with questions, considering she just shut the door in his face. Now she was avoiding the situation. * _Maybe she doesn't know the exact reason for why she kissed me._ * He considered in his thoughts, sighing quietly and running his hand over his face. * _She had said that she only had a limited amount of answers. The fact that she doesn't want to share any may be because she isn't positive about them._ * Dick looked out the window for a moment before shaking his head a little. * _Or she is continuing to want to push me away._ * Of course, he hoped this wasn't the case, but there wasn't much he could do. For all he knew, Jasmine had another guy she had feelings for. The one she met in secret. Right now though, he wasn't even going to start evaluating that, since that would mean analyzing all of their interactions and the small signs she gave that told Dick she still had feelings towards him. Surely she wouldn't blush, or kiss him for that matter, if her heart belonged to someone else at this point. Plus, him accusing her of having some other man had started their whole terrible fight. Thinking of it definitely wasn't going to help him any, so it would be better if he just pushed it aside.

Realizing he had been sitting in his bed for many minutes, just lost in his thoughts, Dick yawned and stretched his arms over his head before swinging his legs over the side. He stood up and walked to his dresser, wearing only his boxers at the moment. He quickly pulled out a random assortment of clothes, and started to change into them. They were simple, being just jeans and a solid blue shirt. Before he put his shirt on, a knock came at the door, and Dick tilted his head to the side before walking over. He had successfully pulled on his shirt before opening the door, looking down. He was surprised to see Tim standing there, shifting from feet to feet in this wary kind of way. His eyes had been downcast, but were now trained on Dick. If he were to guess, the seventeen year old seemed to be uncomfortable.

"Hey Tim." He spoke naturally, though Dick's eyes held a curious light in them, inviting the younger boy to elaborate on his unease, and Tim wasted no time in doing so.

"Alfred told me to get you…Bruce and Jasmine are fighting and he thinks that you may be able to stop it before it gets any worse." He said hastily and Dick breathed out. * _Well, looks like Bruce didn't cool down much after all._ * Dick had a feeling something like this was going to happen.

"Alright. Batcave?" He asked, immediately walking out and down the hall. Tim nodded, walking right beside him.

* _Come on Bruce…don't screw this up. Don't make her retreat back into herself completely._ * Dick thought to himself, picking his pace up a little. Of course, he wasn't positive he could stop any damage from happening, though he hoped that he could. As he made it to the elevator with Tim, the sound of angry voices soon reached Dick's ears as he descended into the cave system. When the doors opened, he walked out, he looked over by the Batcomputer where Jasmine and Bruce were having their dispute. Bruce's hands were clenched into fists, his blue eyes blazing. Jasmine had her arms crossed over her chest, and her whole body was tense. It looked like she was trying to contain her anger, or whatever else she was feeling, but was losing the battle. Alfred was standing a little off to the side, seeming uncomfortable as Tim had been when coming up to his room. Dick started to walk up towards them.

"- the HELL were you thinking?! Turning off your tracker is _unacceptable_! You have absolutely _no_ reason to have done it! So please, Jasmine, enlighten me to your good reasons of _why_ you thought doing so was a great idea!" Bruce shouted angrily.

"I don't expect you to understand my reasoning, Bruce." She spoke lowly, her voice deadly calm, but Dick could see she was getting ready to snap.

"Of course you don't. You don't think anyone has actually gone through anything hard in their life but you. You're acting selfish, and you don't think of how your will actions affect others-" Bruce spoke angrily and her eyes flashed.

"You don't _think_ I understand how other people feel? I know what I've been doing, Bruce! I've been ruining all of my relationships and pushing every single person away, and you think I can't see the damage it causes?" She snapped, her voice rising.

"If you know the damage all of this causes, then why Jasmine? I thought you didn't want to be like Joker." Bruce growled lowly and Jasmine stepped back a little as though he had punched her. * _Damnit Bruce…that's not going to help with anything._ * Dick exchanged a quick glance with Tim, who swallowed hard, before stepping up.

"Okay, let's calm down." Dick spoke, walking between the two of them and raising his hands in a calm and innocent kind of way.

"Stay out of this, Dick." Bruce spoke thinly and he glanced at him, honestly surprised Jasmine hadn't said the same thing. A small glance at her told him she was probably thinking it though.

"No, I think I'm fine where I am," He spoke sharply then looked back to Jasmine, who was staring intensely at the wall, "You need to explain yourself," He began, earning her gaze to shift to him, then looked back to Bruce, "and you need to listen quietly and not lose your temper." Dick said strictly.

"I'm not explaining myself. It doesn't matter what I say, because I'm just like my father anyways, aren't I?" Jasmine spoke coldly, looking at Bruce with a guarded expression. * _Well that makes things complicated._ *

"Don't twist my words." Bruce said lowly.

"You just said it! You _compared_ me to him!" Jasmine laughed humorlessly, and Bruce simply glared at her, seething silently. At least he seemed to have taken Dick's advice in not losing his temper. Honestly speaking, it didn't happen a lot.

"Jasmine. That's not what he meant." Dick spoke softly. * _Though it was a stupid ass thing to say._ * She shook her head at his words, her gaze unforgiving as she glared at him.

"Of course you side with him. You're the one who told me I was just like him in the first place." She snapped and Dick closed his eyes. * _Nice going, Brucie. Why did you have to bring Joker into this? She was getting better._ *

"This has nothing to do with sides, what I said, or your father. This all has to do with the fact that the two of you need to stop this argument before if goes too far," Dick spoke strictly before meeting Jasmine's eyes, "Jasmine, you know that you aren't allowed to turn your tracker off unless you get an okay to do so. Jason stayed unfound because his tracker wasn't on. We don't want this to happen to anyone else, and you knew better than to turn it off," He said to her in a slow and crisp voice before turning to Bruce, "Part of this situation was my fault. Jasmine had I fought earlier that day. She felt uncomfortable after it, and went on her own. Besides, right now, she is here and unharmed."

"And if she hadn't returned?" Bruce spoke lowly. Dick squeezed the bridge of his nose, about to answer when Jasmine spoke up.

"You'd probably celebrate." She snapped coldly. * _Oh no…here we go…_ *

"I've had just about enough of your attitude, Jasmine." Bruce growled lowly.

"Have you? What are you going to do about it, Bruce? Send me to Arkham to get straightened out? It's a fitting place for someone like me."

"You know what? _Get out_." Bruce spoke sharply. Dick snapped his eyes to him.

"Bruce, don't-"

"Fine. It's what you want anyways!" Jasmine spoke angrily. Bruce simply regarded her in this cold kind of calmness. His blue eyes were as hard and sharp as ice itself.

"No. It isn't. However, I've reached my limit trying to convince you otherwise. Come back when you realize reality. Until then, you aren't welcome here." He spoke in a low and dark voice.

"Bruce! What the hell are you doing?" Dick exclaimed, but his former mentor barely regarded him, but held Jasmine's eyes for a moment before she looked away, spinning on her heels.

"Yeah. Sure." She practically growled, walking towards the exit and disappearing through it.

"Jasmine!" Immediately, Dick started after her. * _I have to fix this._ * However, he came to an abrupt stop as his arm was caught.

"Let me go, Bruce!" Dick snapped sharply, looking over at him from over his shoulder.

"No. She'll be back, Dick." He said lowly, his blue eyes set firmly.

"What if she doesn't? She doesn't have anywhere to go! I told you to keep your cool, and you made the situation worse! She was starting to change back to how she was before Jason died!" He exclaimed fiercely, though Bruce hardly reacted except for the slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Don't tell me you've lost your faith in me as well." He spoke lowly. Dick grit his teeth a little.

"I'm not sure what to think. I get you were mad Bruce, but kicking her out? You went too far. This isn't going to show her anything other than her perception of you not caring about her to be true! Your anger is blinding you from the impact of what you have truly done!"

"We'll see," Is all Bruce said before letting go of Dick's arm and stalking past him, "It's about time she didn't get away with her antics anyways."

Tim slowly walked over, looking rather nervous and surprised at the same time. His eyes followed Bruce, who went back up to the manor. Dick ran his fingers through his messy black hair, taking a deep, aggravated breath. It was up to him to fix Bruce's mistake, it seemed. However, he had no idea where Jasmine would go, though he had a good idea that she was going to take one of Bruce's motorcycles to piss him off and get away from the place faster than if she were walking. Both of them weren't thinking clearly. After last night, Dick had been so sure that she was going to change for the better, but this was going to make her take a step back from that direction.

"Sorry I couldn't stop that from exploding." He spoke after sighing.

"It is okay, Master Dick. I figured it would be a long shot, which is why I placed a tracking device on her jacket just before the whole situation came to be." Alfred spoke formally and Tim smiled lightly.

"Brilliant thinking, Alfred!" The younger boy exclaimed, turning to Dick eagerly, "That means we can get her back, and talk sense into her! Of course, you should probably do that part." He said, crossing his arms over his chest in an almost thoughtful kind of way. Dick couldn't help but smile lightly at the boy's optimism, placing his hands on his waist and looking down at Tim.

"What makes you say that? There's a good chance she wouldn't want me to come up to her." Dick spoke, thinking back to how she had turned on him for just a moment during the fight by picking up that false mentality she had developed over the months. Tim smirked a little at that and leaned towards him a little.

"Cause you looooove her." He drawled out childishly and Dick rolled his eyes, cuffing him on the back of the head lightly, making the younger boy yelp a little and rub the back of his head. He wore a little smirk on his face though.

"Quiet, kid." He chuckled slightly before walking to the Batcomputer, pulling up the tracking system on it. Sure enough, there was a pulsing red dot moving quickly into Gotham. * _I was right. She took one of the motorcycles. She couldn't move that fast on foot._ *

"Master Dick. Perhaps you should wait for her to cool down." Alfred offered, walking up. Dick sighed and shook his head.

"No, I should go after her right away. I don't want her to have any reason to think that you talked me into it or something. This way, she'll see that I actually care. You should talk to Bruce, Alfred." He spoke, looking over at him.

"Master Bruce did get rather blinded by anger, but I do believe he was correct when it was about time he came down on Madam Jasmine for something she has done. He has let the other situations slide, and quite leniently if I do say so myself. However, Master Dick, I do not think anything I have to say will do much help as of now. Once he calms down and thinks it over, I will initiate a discussion with him." Alfred spoke. Dick nodded to this before stepping back and looking to the butler.

"Alright. I'll go after her then." He breathed, looking back to the map. Suddenly, the dot stopped for a moment, then moved towards an apartment. Narrowing his eyes, Dick watched as the dot paused outside of it before moving in.

"Looks like she had somewhere to go after all." Tim said and Dick glanced down.

"Yeah. That friend of hers she says isn't her boyfriend," He muttered before memorizing the address of her position, "I'll be back."

"Good luck." Tim said to him, though Dick walked past and to the elevator instead of replying.

Dick came back up to the manor's level and stepped out, heading to his room so he could grab the keys to his car. Of course, he wasn't exactly thrilled about going to this guy's apartment. At the same time, he didn't want Jasmine there either. Sure, it was stupid to think, but he still wary about this so called friend of hers. The sooner he got her back to the manor, the better. Of course, she and Bruce would need to get on good terms again, or their fight was bound to repeat itself in some kind of way. In a way, Dick hoped that Bruce had been right when he said she would be back. He was still going to go after her, but it would certainly be easier getting her to come back if she realized the truth of everything before he got there. He walked into his room and grabbed his keys from his desk before heading to the garage.

Upon entering, Dick made his way to his car and slid into the driver's seat then started up the car. The engine roared to life and he shifted his car into reverse, pulling out of the garage, and then shifted into first gear before taking off towards the city. Already, he knew where this apartment was without needing a GPS or anything due to knowing Gotham and its streets in general. The only problem would be finding the right apartment…which would definitely lead to many awkward encounters if he knocked on random people's doors. Still, there wasn't much he could do to avoid that unless he guessed correctly on the first room. Regardless, Dick wasn't exactly looking forward to it, considering he wasn't much of an awkward person and also wasn't fond of awkward situations.

As Dick turned into the small apartment complex, he slowed his car, keeping his eyes alert for one of Bruce's motorcycles. Thankfully, it really didn't take that long to find. It was parked pretty close to the building, and near a certain door. Considering this, Dick smiled lightly, since those awkward encounters may be avoided. He pulled his car next to the motorcycle before turning the car off and stepping out. Taking a deep breath, he moved his keys into his pocket and ran a hand through his hair. He had no idea how this whole thing was going to go. Jasmine probably wouldn't be thrilled to see him.

* _It doesn't matter. Just go knock on the door._ * Dick scolded himself in his thoughts before walking to the door the motorcycle was parked the closest to. Stopping outside of it, he gave a small pause before giving three sharp knocks, and waited. There was a few seconds of silence before the muffled shuffling of feet became audible. The click of a lock being undone echoed in Dick's ears, and then the door opened.

A man came into view, about Dick's age. Surprise filtered through Dick as he gazed at him, only to peer over the man's shoulder, seeing Jasmine leaning against a wall. Her blue-green eyes were wide with surprise as well as she gazed at Dick. Then her eyes narrowed a little, though not angrily but rather in thought. She looked inside of her jacket then sighed lightly, taking out the small tracking device Alfred had placed on her. It was then the Dick returned his eyes to the man, narrowing his eyes coldly and crossing his arms over his chest.

It had been a long time since Dick had last saw him. Last time he heard, the man had gotten addicted to heroin and was kicked out of where he had been living in Starling City. That had been a little over a year ago. But coming to Gotham? That was unexpected. What was even more unexpected was the fact that Jasmine knew him to a point where she was at his house. Not only that, but has repeatedly gone over to the apartment, and Dick knew that the man was a bit of a womanizer. To say the least, he didn't trust this man, and hated knowing Jasmine has spent her time with him. There was a time when Dick would have trusted him to have his back, but that had been years ago, before he had turned to drugs. Who knew what he was doing now? With Jasmine around him, she could have easily adopted these bad decisions. * _I swear if he's gotten Jasmine addicted…_ *

"Oh…um…hey, Dick. I wasn't expecting to see you." The man spoke rather awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Last time Dick saw him, he hadn't been the awkward type, but more arrogant. Dick supposed that the two of them had been rather similar back in the day.

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting to see you either, Roy."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jasmine leaned against the wall, holding the tracking device she found in her jacket between her thumb and forefinger. She considered crushing the little mechanism, but refrained from doing so. At this point, it wouldn't matter. Dick already came to her location, and it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go. While she hadn't been with Roy Harper for very long, they had already spoken about the whole epidemic.

Just as Bruce predicted earlier, Jasmine already did feel terrible about the whole thing. Her thoughts manifested at Bruce's accusations, and she lashed out at him rather than accepting the inevitable truth. Her actions had been stupid. They had been selfish, and it had been completely wrong. Instead of arguing, she should have taken responsibility for her mistake. Her stupid, stubborn nature came out when Bruce had begun to yell, and instead of doing what was right, she simply put up her walls and reverted to her cold and guarded ways. It was now a bad habit that she had developed after being that way for so long. Instead of facing the problem, she pushed it away. Now, she needed to stop doing just that, and be who she wanted to be. For a few moments, she forgot just who that was.

When Jasmine discussed everything that had happened with Roy, she had still been angry and in a rather foul mood. It was Roy who shook his head and scolded her, saying not to mess things up with her mentor like he had with his. He explained that Bruce had simply been worried out of his mind, not exactly furious at her, let alone thinking she was some carbon copy of her father. Now, Roy knew that she stayed with Bruce Wayne and also knew that Bruce was Batman, since Oliver Queen had shared plenty of information such as that with him.

Jasmine first met Roy Harper at none other than a charity event that Bruce had thrown. She had been under the name Jessamine Quest, and the event had been a masquerade. So, for the most part, her face had been covered with a small mask. At the time, it had only been a few months since Dick left and Jason died. Life had to go on. Neither she nor Bruce had wanted to be at the party, let alone socialize, but he is Bruce Wayne, and he had to play his part. The two of them hadn't been on great terms. More so professional terms than anything. Tim hadn't become Robin just yet either.

During the party, Jasmine played her part as well. She danced with other people, with Alfred having taught her how to ballroom dance, and maintained small conversations if spoken to. For the most part, however, she kept to herself. It was when Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, had arrived with his Ward, Roy Harper, aka Arsenal. He had been Speedy before and during the Teen Titans, then changed his name later on. Bruce had brought her over to meet them, since it was just the formal thing to do considering the two were acquaintances. While Oliver and Bruce talked business, Roy had offered his hand to her, and led her off to dance. They made small talk, and Jasmine had actually smiled slightly as they spoke, and now that she thought back on it, he had reminded her a little of Dick. They had spent the rest of the night together, talking and dancing. He had seemed to notice something was wrong, but had never asked her about it. Very smoothly, he had asked her for her number, to which she had brushed him off, saying he'd just have to find her someday if he wanted to see her again.

After their first meeting, they didn't see each other for many months. In fact, Jasmine had mostly forgotten about the charming red-haired boy from Starling City. It was one night when she was out as Batwoman that she found him exiting a bar, drunk out of his mind. Obviously curious and worried for the man, she had followed him a little ways when three gang members had jumped him. Of course, she had known that he could fight, but as drunk as he had been, she also knew he wouldn't last long. So, she had swooped in and knocked the gang members out. After, she had led him to his apartment, only for him to basically pass out right as his door, leaving it up to her to drag him inside. So, she did just that, resting him on his couch. However, just as she pulled away, his hand snatched her mask and tugged it off, revealing her features as clear as day.

Ever since then, Jasmine and Roy became fast friends. She told him her true identity, including her parentage, and he told her that Oliver had kicked him out after he found out about his addiction to heroin. The two of them bonded after that, helping each other with their problems. Jasmine assisted Roy in stopping his drug use, and Roy helped her talk through her problems. The two became close, and while they had thought about becoming lovers, even having made out plenty of times and gone a little farther than that, though barely so, it had failed at really developing. Jasmine expressed her concern about placing that kind of trust in someone again, and that she didn't want to. In hindsight, she saw that she had never actually gotten over Dick. So the two simply remained best friends, and stopped all kinds of romantic activities, and that's where they were now.

So, when Bruce kicked her out, Jasmine immediately went to Roy's apartment. When the knock came at the door, they had fallen silent, and one look from Roy told her that he hadn't been expecting company. So, she had stood up with him and leaned her back against the wall and watched as he went to answer the door. When he opened it, there had been a small pause and she had glanced over him, only to see Dick. Surprise had filtered through her when she saw him, wondering how in the world he had found her. Then it clicked. Alfred had stopped her before she entered the Batcave, and if she were to guess, had placed a tracker on her. Sure enough, that was what was pressed between her fingers at the moment. When Roy and Dick spoke, however, she snapped her eyes over in shock. * _They know each other?_ * Dick and Roy looked at each other, Roy awkward and Dick intense. His blue eyes shifted over Roy's shoulder, and she found herself trapped under the black haired boy's gaze.

"Come with me, Jasmine. We need to talk." He spoke lowly. She studied him for a moment. His body was stiff and his eyes unreadable. He definitely didn't seem happy about the whole thing. A small frown came over her, but she pushed off from the wall and walked up beside Roy.

"Why should I go with you, Dick? I'm not going back to your apartment, and I'm not welcome anywhere else at the moment," She spoke calmly, her voice more defeated sounding than anything. She felt Roy touch her back lightly in a comforting kind of manner, and she glanced at him gratefully for a moment. However, Dick then grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, moving the sleeve of her jacket up her arm, "What are you-" She breathed out, but Roy cut her off.

"She isn't taking drugs."

Jasmine's eyes widened at that, and she narrowed her eyes slightly. He thought she was doing drugs? Of all things, that was what he thought? She moved her eyes up to him angrily, unable to stop the small feelings of hurt flickering over her. However, his eyes weren't on her, but rather Roy. He then gently, yet firmly, pulled her behind him in what seemed to be a protective kind of manner, making her anger falter for a moment.

"And you, Roy? Are you still taking drugs? Look, I don't want you around her, and I sure as hell don't want you near her." Dick spoke up.

"I'm not taking heroin anymore, Dick. She helped me with that. It's because of her I was able to successfully stop, along with my own will. After the damage you've dealt her, I'm the only one who has been there for her to talk to. I would figure you would be a smidge grateful for that. Then again, maybe you wouldn't considering what you said to her. If any of us were to not be around or near her, it should be you." Roy responded sharply.

"You don't know anything about what happened between us, Roy. You have no right to accuse me of anything when you don't have the full story in all of it. You don't know what I feel for her, or anything of the sort. I don't feel gratefulness towards you, because you probably took advantage of her."

"Oh yes. I definitely took advantage of Jasmine when she was in distress. We got drunk all the time and did every sexual thing you can think-"

"ROY!" Jasmine shouted, cutting him off, and then looked at Dick for a moment. The hand that wasn't holding onto her wrist was clenched into a tight, shaking fist. She couldn't tell if he was angry…or pained, "Stop being sarcastic."

Roy turned his eyes to her and sighed lightly, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, "Jasmine. Don't tell me you're going to simply let him say all these things and go away without a single word in response. He's insulted you, and he's insulted me. And you know damn well that we weren't exactly 'just friends' for a small while." He spoke to her. Jasmine bit her lower lip lightly, only to feel Dick's eyes on her.

"Is that true?" He asked in a hushed voice. Jasmine looked up at him, seeing all the conflicting, torturous emotions in their depths. Her heart throbbed and she swallowed hard.

"To an extent."

Jasmine heard Dick suck in a sharp breath before he slowly let go of her arm. He took a small step back silently before turning his back to them. "Then I have no reason to be here. The two of you seem well off." He said quietly, and Jasmine's eyes widened as he started to walk away. She looked at Roy, shaking her head.

"Why? Why did you say that?" She whispered. He looked down for a moment and closed his eyes.

"Because I think you can do better than Dick Grayson, Jasmine. He's always been a womanizer. I want you to be happy." He said to her quietly.

"You don't get it, Roy. He does make me happy. Yes, he caused me pain as well, but after our talk yesterday…I thought that you realized that I've never gotten over him. That whatever happened between you and I wasn't true, let alone real feelings. I've never stopped…" She began but trailed off.

"Loving him?"

Jasmine hesitated at first before speaking up, "Yes. You know that, Roy. I think you've known that for a while. I can't believe you just…I have to go catch him before this is beyond repair," She said to him quietly before running after Dick, who had made it to his car.

"Dick…please stop." She breathed, wrapping her arms around him from behind. He froze at her contact.

"Shouldn't you be with Roy?"

"No. No, you don't understand. Let me explain."

"Explain what, Jasmine?" Dick burst out, pushing her arms down from his abdomen and turning towards her. He rested his hands on her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. She could see every shred of pain, sorrow, anger and confusion swirling in them like a tempest, "What is there to explain?"

"Dick I…" She began but trailed off quietly, her heart pounding rapidly. She then closed her eyes. If she didn't let everything go now, then she was going to lose him. It was time she came clean about her feelings, and broke out from her fear of placing her trust in someone, "Yes, Roy and I did have a small time period where we considered being together. Anything we did never really went too far past making out. He…he was the one who wanted to make it official. I didn't. I'm the one who stopped all of it, Dick. I thought it was because I was didn't want to trust someone like that again. To openly give myself to someone. But the truth is…I…" Her words faltered, and she took in a shaky breath. Dick gazed down at her, and she could feel his hands trembling faintly where they rested on her shoulders. Gently, she reached up, placing her hand against his cheek. She lightly trailed her thumb along his cheekbone, and he closed his eyes against her touch. One of his hands left her shoulder and rested on top of hers.

"I love you, Richard Grayson. I never stopped loving you," She whispered quietly, and his eyes slowly met hers, "I-I know that I've been absolutely terrible to you ever since I came to your apartment, and that I haven't been…me. I would completely understand if you didn't want anything to do-"

Jasmine didn't get to finish her stumbling sentence, since Dick moved one of his arms around her back and pulled her to his chest. Then, he pressed his lips to hers lightly. A small flicker of surprise went through her at first before she kissed him back, resting her other hand lightly against his chest. This time, there wasn't a surge of panic that filled her or confusion. Instead, her heart swelled and fluttered. Unlike the last time they had kissed, it wasn't urgent. It was slow, meaningful and heartfelt. The kiss also ended much too soon. At least, to Jasmine it did. Dick pulled back, his lips just brushing against hers lightly, almost invitingly. However, his arms slowly unwound from around her, instead moving up and cupping her face gently. A small smile came over her as his thumbs trailed along her cheeks, and she met his beautiful blue-gray eyes.

"You know, I actually didn't come here to kiss you." He spoke and she smirked lightly.

"Oh? You know, I could always just go back-" Jasmine spoke teasingly, starting to pull out of his arms. He then widened his eyes and quickly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to him. She laughed softly as he pressed his face against her neck lightly.

"Nope. You're staying here," He chuckled before he quickly kissed her neck, "Anyways, I came here to get you to come back to the manor."

A small sigh came over her at what he said, and she squeezed her eyes shut, "Dick I really messed up." She breathed out. There was a small pause, and Dick pulled back, gazing down at her seriously though he kept his hands on her waist.

"It's okay, Jasmine. I know Bruce was mad, well…really mad, but if you apologize and elaborate then it will be fine. We know that you've been through a lot, and that you were having a hard time the past few months. What matters is that you are coming out from behind the walls you built up." He said to her gently. Jasmine met his eyes solemnly.

"The thing is Dick, I have been acting like my parents had wanted me to be. It's something I never want to become. I wanted to escape that. I never should have closed myself off to…that point. I thought that I was a curse, but in reality, I was making myself that way. How can I atone for what I have done? How can I just…fix everything after pushing everyone away and acting so terribly? The very fact that you have been able to forgive me so quickly is astounding to me on its own." She murmured.

"Jasmine. Everyone makes mistakes. Hell, I should know that better than everyone. What I had said to you…I regret it more than anything. The thing is, we get it. Before Tim came in, I heard that Bruce had become a lot meaner on the streets by beating criminals up past what they needed to be, even putting Joker in a full body cast. However, he was able to recover from that since he had someone to anchor him. You didn't. Honestly, you've already been forgiven. You're part of this…Bat Family, I guess you could call it," He chuckled lightly, "and in a family, no matter what mistakes you make, they'll still love you. You're a perfectionist, Jasmine. You think that if you do one wrong little thing, then you are one step closer to being like your parents. The thing is, we are only human. None of us are all good or all bad. More like a gray, though some grays can be darker than others."

"You know…one of the first times we met, I said something like that to you. That one person isn't all evil or all good…that we are all somewhere in between." Jasmine breathed, smiling at him gently, "Thanks, Dick."

"Of course, Jazz," He spoke softly then smiled at her, "Ready to go?"

Jasmine was about to nod, but glanced back at Roy's apartment, "Let me properly say goodbye to Roy first." She spoke, catching the light frown coming over him and she smirked slightly, punching his arm, "Stop being moody. Nothing is going to happen." She spoke and he rubbed the back of his head, giving a lopsided smile.

"Sorry, sorry. I just don't like the idea of the two of you together." He admitted, seemingly embarrassed.

"I know, but consider it a kind of payback." She said lightly, turning her back to him and starting to walk towards the apartment.

"For what?"

Jasmine paused, resting a hand on her hip and looking over her shoulder, "For me seeing you in your apartment with another woman." She said matter-of-factly. Dick's face reddened slightly and he cleared his throat before speaking up.

"Y-You were jealous?"

"Well yeah! I just didn't recognize it at the time."

"Well…that clears up the part where you pretended to be my fiancé instead of sister then." He chuckled.

"Actually, if I'm honest, I had no idea what the hell to do when I walked in. The only thing I could think of was being your fiancé. I actually hadn't planned on ruining your relationship, though I guess it was kind of a bonus." She smiled.

"A bonus? She slapped me!" Dick exclaimed. Jasmine laughed softly, but attempted to hold it back.

"Well I mean…it was kind of funny…maybe just a little bit." She giggled quietly before shaking her head, "Okay, I need to go talk to Roy really fast. We'll continue this later." She spoke warmly.

Dick huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against his car. However, his lips were turned up lightly at the corners, telling Jasmine he really wasn't that upset or anything, "You're damn right we are," He said in a teasing, serious voice and a smile quirked on her lips before she jogged over to Roy's apartment once again.

The door was closed, and Jasmine paused outside of it almost hesitantly. He probably thought that she had already left with Dick. The thing was, she knew that he wasn't going to be happy about the entire thing, and was scared this may be the end of their friendship. Still, she also knew she couldn't leave this unconcluded. So, taking a deep breath, Jasmine then opened the door, knowing he had probably left it unlocked, which had been correct. She stepped into apartment, but the living room was bare.

"Roy?" Jasmine called, closing the door behind her, "We should talk."

"I thought you left with Grayson." Roy's voice rang out, and he appeared in the doorway leading to the kitchen, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe and holding a glass of what seemed to be water.

"Not yet. I just want to make sure we don't leave on bad terms, Roy. You're still important to me, you know." She spoke to him, walking over.

"Oh? Don't tell me you're flirting with me, Miss Quinn." He smirked lightly, raising the glass to his lips and sipping the water.

"You know me. The huge flirt." She said with a small smile, stopping in front of him.

"Well, you did lead me on the first night we met."

"That, Roy Harper, is a lie."

"You flirted all evening then denied my number!" He exclaimed with a small laugh and her eyes widened.

"I was flirting?" She breathed and Roy laughed gently and lightly flicked her forehead.

"You are one odd girl." He teased and she rolled her eyes.

"Not as odd as you, Harper," She teased back, relief starting to flood through her since nothing seemed to be wrong between them. However, he then glanced to the side with a sigh, which was always a bad sign, "What is it?"

"You know, Jasmine, I really like our friendship…but I think it's time we parted ways." He spoke, meeting her eyes seriously.

"Roy…if this is about Dick-" She began, but he shook his head.

"No, no, no. It's not that. It's about time I went back to Starling City and tried to make amends with Oliver. I've already contacted Black Canary about it, and she'll give me a place to stay until I can get my own." He spoke up.

"So…you've been planning this for a while then." She breathed out. Roy was quiet for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Around the beginning of this week. I've tried to tell you, but it never seemed like a good time to. Now though…I think you're going to be alright without me around." He said, offering a light smile.

"When are you taking off?"

"Three days."

Jasmine took a deep breath before walking over to him, "I'm proud of you, Roy. Just don't completely vanish from my life, okay?" She said warmly before hugging him.

"Already feeling the separation anxiety, Quinn?" He chuckled, hugging her back.

"Don't push it, Harper," She smiled, and then pecked his cheek lightly before pulling away, "I should be on my way. If I stay too much longer, Dick might break down the door."

"Yeah, wouldn't surprise me. Keep him in check, and if he ever looks at some other girl, break his nose for me, will ya?" Roy smirked, though Jasmine simply laughed.

"Will do," She answered fondly as she went to the door.

"See ya, Jazz." Roy spoke, his voice softer. Jasmine looked at her friend from over her shoulder, memorizing him for a moment. She truly wasn't sure if she would ever see him again, or if they would be able to maintain contact. It was weird, thinking that he wouldn't be in this apartment anymore, and he would be gone. Her place was in Gotham, and his wasn't. It was just by a small shred of fate that two separate paths intersected when they needed each other most. But, in the end, they were still separate paths, and the future had different plans for the two of them.

"I'll see you around, Roy. Don't get into too much trouble." Jasmine spoke up lightheartedly before going out the door, though she had a feeling that she wouldn't be hearing or seeing from him anytime soon. As she closed the door behind her, the silence that followed for a few moments seemed to agree with her.

"Jasmine!"

Jasmine lifted her head, seeing Dick leaning back against the car and waiting. That signature side smile of his played on his lips, and she could imagine the amused way his blue eyes would be shimmering. With one small glance back at the door, she then smiled and walked towards him. It was time to move on, and take her life back. No longer was she going to be lingering in the past, but rather, living in the present. In a way, she supposed that Roy leaving was the last thing that needed to happen for her to truly look forwards. So, she eagerly walked over, stopping at her motorcycle.

"Alright, let's go. I have some repairs to do." She said with a light smile before placing the helmet on.

"I'll be right behind you." Dick commented before sliding into his car and starting it up.

Jasmine swung her leg over the motorcycle then kick started it, making the machine roar to life. Giving a nod to Dick's she then took off, driving out of the parking lot with Dick not far behind as she made her way back to the manor. Of course, Jasmine was nervous. What was she going to say to Bruce? Hell, would he even accept her back, let alone her apology? After everything she has done, it wasn't like she exactly deserved this second chance. However, Dick said that she was like a part of his family at this point, and that family forgave each other for their mistakes. She didn't know much about that concept, but if Dick said that was what family was like, then she would believe him. After only a couple of minutes, the manor loomed ahead of them, and Jasmine slowly pulled into the garage and parked the motorcycle. She then dismounted it, looking over as Dick walked over to her.

"Déjà vu, right?" Jasmine breathed out.

"Yeah, it kind of is…except I remember a particular butler being-"

"Madam Jasmine, Master Dick, it is quite nice to see the two of you once again." Alfred spoke up, walking into the garage.

"Yup. Now it's déjà vu." Dick grinned. Jasmine rolled her eyes with a small smile and punched his shoulder.

"Dork."

"The two of you are on good terms now, I presume." Alfred spoke, looking between them for a moment. Dick seemed to almost beam and wrapped his arms around Jasmine from behind, drawing her to his chest. He then rested his head on the top of hers lightly, since she was rather short compared to even his 5'10 height, and her cheeks turned a soft pink.

"You have presumed correctly, Alfred. Anyways, where is the Old Man at? A serious discussion between him and Jazz is in order."

"He is in the training room with young Master Tim. Madam Jasmine, I advise you to pick your words carefully. I am unsure where his temperament is at the moment." He spoke. She took a deep breath before nodding.

"I understand. Thank you, Alfred," Jasmine said, pulling out of Dick's arms, who reluctantly let her go as she did. She then walked over to the butler, meeting his eyes seriously, "I'm sorry for my behavior."

Alfred was quiet just for one moment before he smiled slightly and patted her shoulder, "It is quite alright, Madam Jasmine. I am delighted to see that you seem much happier than you have in many months. Now if you excuse me, I really must make dinner." He said, giving his formal bow before walking off. The two looked after him before turning to each other.

"Well, you should probably do this yourself." Dick stated seriously.

"I know," Jasmine breathed before smiling to him reassuringly, since he looked concerned, "Don't worry too much. I'll come find you after Bruce and I talk." She said firmly.

"Sounds like a plan. Good luck, Jasmine." He said to her gently, lightly kissing her forehead before pulling away. She walked into the manor with him from the garage, but they parted ways as she went towards the training area, and he went who knows where.

As Jasmine walked to the elevator, and ultimately, the training area, she was of course nervous. Bruce had only kicked her out a few hours ago, and she was already back. In all honesty, she wasn't sure how he would respond. Would he react in anger, or would he be more solemn about the whole thing? Would he even take her back? The possibilities of what would happen were rather endless, and really, there was no say in what would happen. Bruce was really hard to read. At least, to Jasmine he was. Dick knew him pretty well in certain aspects, and Alfred understood him more than anyone. All she could hope is that Bruce would accept her back, and take her apology.

The elevator came to a stop as it arrived at the Batcave and she stepped out as the doors opened. Immediately, the sound of something being hit echoed in her ears. Slowly, Jasmine walked over to where Bruce could be seen with Tim. Tim seemed tired, and was breathing heavily and coated in sweat from whatever workout or training exercise he was being put through. Bruce's breathing was even, showing that he has hardly pushed himself during their training. Tim was in a battle stance, but looked beyond Bruce and at Jasmine. A small smile came over him, and he straightened up.

Tim Drake always rather confused Jasmine. Even after all she has done to push him away, the boy still tried to get to know her, and never tried to really stay away from her. Some of the things she has said to him have even been cruel before. Still, the boy would come right back up and try to talk to her, or get to know her. At first, it extremely annoyed her. However, it didn't take very long for her to feel a special kind of fondness for the young boy. Perhaps it was a sibling kind of feeling? Jasmine never was sure, since it was foreign to her. Of course, she now hoped it wasn't too late to get to know Tim, and he would give her a second chance to get to know him, and him her.

"Jasmine! You're back." The teenager called, making Bruce looking over as well, his blue eyes sharp and cold. They were unreadable, so Jasmine had no idea what to think or how the man was feeling regarding her.

"So it seems." Bruce grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, and Tim glanced at him with a small sigh.

"Tim, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with Bruce." She stated.

"Alone." Bruce added gruffly.

Tim looked between them for a moment before nodding quietly. He walked past Jasmine, giving her a small, reassuring smile before entering the elevator and returning to the manor. Jasmine's heart started to quicken considerably as her nerves acted up, especially as the silence began to stretch out. Slowly, she raised her eyes to Bruce, who was looking intently at her with his lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes carefully guarded and his stance stiff. She shifted awkwardly on her feet for a moment before clearing her throat a little.

"I just wish to apologize for our earlier…dispute." She spoke up and Bruce raised his eyebrows a little.

"Is that all?"

"No," Jasmine murmured, lowering her eyes, "I want to apologize for the attitude and behavior that I have had for over a year now. It hasn't been fair for anyone, and no one should have had to put up with it for as long as they had. I…acted like my parents wanted me to be, and I never want to go back to that," She spoke up, swallowing hard, then meeting his eyes, "I hope you will accept my apology, but I understand if you don't."

Once again, silence stretched between them. Bruce seemed to be studying her, though his stance was considerably more relaxed. Still, Jasmine had no idea what he was thinking, or how he was going to respond. The wait for some kind of reaction from him was killing her, and she wanted him to just…say or do something, whether it be yelling at her or just talking calmly. She shifted nervously, averting her eyes from him for a moment. Then, he began to walk up to her. Jasmine stayed rooted in place, holding her breath as he stood right in front of her. Bruce towered over her due to their height difference, and it was rather intimidating, if she were honest. At least, in the moment it was. However, he drew his arms around her and simply hugged her gently to him.

Jasmine's eyes widened and her lips parted in shock. She wasn't expecting…this. At all, actually. She had been expecting a lecture, or for him to yell and throw her out once again. This approach confused her, but at the very same time, it relieved and made her curious as well. While earlier in her training she had started seeing Bruce as a kind of role model, even as a kind of father figure, she never really considered the fact that he would have thought of her as much of a daughter, per say. It was obvious that he saw Dick and Jason as sons, and Tim was definitely falling into this category as well. She was the daughter of the man he hated most. A part of her always figured that he would consider her more of an ally than anything, and that was all. The whole situation was rather ironic if he looked upon her like a kind of daughter due to her parentage. Joker and Batman were complete opposites, and anyone would think that an offspring of the Clown Prince of Crime would make Batman more wary than anything. So, a hug was the last thing Jasmine had expected from Bruce Wayne, especially after their rather explosive argument. Still, she was happy that what happened between them was going to be left in the past. The hug didn't last very long, and Bruce pulled back, meeting her eyes seriously.

"I accept your apology." He said firmly.

"Thank you, Bruce." Jasmine breathed out, smiling up at him. A small smile curved on his lips for a moment before he sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"What I said earlier about how I thought you didn't want to be like your father…I didn't mean that statement in the way that it came across. The thing is Jasmine, you are very, very differently from your parents. More so than you give yourself credit for. The first time I had officially met you, I was intrigued by how different you truly were. Of course, you saying that another woman had raised you cleared up those questions. Still, you are related to Harley and Joker by blood. You can't wash away small resemblances, Jasmine. The thing is, these small similarities seemed huge to you, and you scared yourself over something that you didn't need to worry about. In fact, you were so obsessed with the idea of not being what they wanted you to be, that you started changing into an entirely new person all together," He explained before pausing for a moment, "I'm rambling. What I'm _trying_ to say is that you were already unlike your parents. Trying as hard as you were to be even more different actually pushed you the opposite way. The isolation, the unfeeling façade you put up, and the rebellious hateful nature you adopted made you more like your parents than unlike them. Does…that make sense?" He finished.

"Yes, it makes sense. I actually came to the same conclusion not too long ago. Bruce…do you really think I'm different from them? What if insanity is just lying dormant inside me, and is waiting to spring up and take me over? I mean…couldn't it be hereditary?" She asked in a quiet voice. Bruce rested his hand on her shoulder lightly.

"Yes, I do believe you are different from them, and I don't think Joker's mental instability is going to be passed down to you. If there a chance? Maybe, but at your age, I think some kind of sign would have already shown. However, if you do start to become…unstable, then I will do what I can to help you, Jasmine. You are like a daughter to me, even if it doesn't seem like it." Bruce said to her strongly. Jasmine met his eyes at what he said, surprised at his declaration. It just seemed so…unreal. Still, the honesty that rang from Bruce's voice had been clear. He was telling her the truth.

"Thank you, Bruce," Jasmine spoke before smiling at the man warmly, "I never really had much of a father figure before. I suppose I looked up to Joker when I was very young but…his position vanished rather quickly. In all honesty, you're the only person I've ever really seen as a kind of father." She stated. Bruce smiled lightly and was about to respond when his phone buzzed. He sighed and checked it before looking to her almost apologetically.

"I'll need to cut our discussion short. I'll see you later tonight, Jasmine," He said to her, patting her shoulder lightly before walking past and answering the phone, becoming the CEO of Wayne Enterprises.

Jasmine looked after him for a moment, feeling much better about everything. In fact, she wished they had a discussion like that months ago. Maybe then, she would already have recovered from her own thoughts, and gotten closer to Tim as well. She would also not have been so cruel to Dick for as long as she was. Stretching her arms over her head, Jasmine walked to the elevator, riding it back up to the manor. Now she needed to tell Dick everything that happened with the discussion between her and Bruce. * _I can't believe that it went so well._ * She thought to herself happily as she strolled to Dick's room. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The darkness that had engulfed her for so long was mostly cleared away. Now, she was determined to recover the relationships that she had put on the line, and hoped that she wasn't too late in making it up to Barbara, Alfred and Tim. Just as she stopped outside of Dick's room, the door swung open.

"How did it go?" Dick asked immediately.

"It went really well." She beamed. A relieved smiled spread across Dick's face and he drew her into his arms, hugging her close to him.

"Good." He breathed out softly. Jasmine wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek on his chest. For some reason, the thought of their case came into her mind, and Jasmine swallowed hard. She needed to tell him about Red Hood. That information couldn't be kept from him any longer. Besides, it was the afternoon, and they needed to find any kind of information about the drug tonight.

"Dick, there's something I really need to tell you." She spoke, pulling back from him.

"What is it?"

Jasmine shifted a little nervously, since she had been lying to him about not keeping anything from him, "Well…I was lying when I said I have been telling you everything. Penguin's plan isn't his own, but rather another man's. It was not only his idea, but he is the one pulling it off. Penguin's only contribution is probably money and a few of his own goons. This guy's name is Red Hood. He wears a red mask to cover his face and uses two guns. His hand-to-hand combat is extremely good as well though. He's the one we need to find." She exposed. Dick was quiet for a moment before nodding slowly.

"I thought you had been hiding something. Alright, thanks for telling me, Jazz. We should try to get any info regarding Red Hood and his drug tonight, since I'm guessing that if we find Hood, we find the drug as well." He spoke seriously.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Jasmine nodded just as seriously. However, as she met Dick's eyes, a mischievous, lopsided smile spread over his lips.

"But until then…" He reached out and rested his hands on her hips, drawing him to her, "we might as well catch up on lost time."

Jasmine blushed lightly and a slow smile came over her lips as she met his blue-gray eyes, "And how do you propose we do that?"

"Oh, I dunno…" Dick began, pulling her to his chest once more, "I may have a few ideas."

Jasmine gave a small smile before resting her hands on his shoulders. She moved her lips close to his, "Do you?"

Dick answered by kissing her deeply, to which she immediately returned. Quickly, the world melted away, and for a moment, Jasmine could believe that it was just the two of them. That they didn't have to worry about anything or have two whole cities to save. She hadn't realized just how much she had missed the handsome, joking boy until now. Like how he touched her lightly, though not as though she could break, but in a gentle and affectionate kind of way. She had missed the carefree way they teased each other, but at the same time, loved how she could talk to him seriously if she needed to. How she could have believed he hated her for so long, even after what he said, astounded her in a way. She should have known he had been trying to push her away by saying all those things, especially after Jason had been killed. None of them had been in their right minds.

Like so many times when they have kissed, Jasmine could feel Dick's heart racing where her hands rested. Her own was pounding quickly as well. Slowly, he broke their kiss, only to kiss her neck lightly. She sucked in a breath as the feeling of his soft lips trailing down her skin, only for him to then return to her lips. However, he simply lingered near hers teasingly instead of kissing her.

"You tease." Jasmine murmured, causing Dick to laugh softly though he cut off as Jasmine kissed him once more.

This time, their kiss was much more urgent and passionate. She trailed one of her hands to the back of his head, gently moving her fingers into his soft, black hair. Jasmine felt Dick move one of his hands to the small of her back, slowly moving under her shirt. She gasped lightly against his lips as he lightly traced the scars that covered her back, still not used to such gentle contact, especially concerning her back. As he gently ran his fingers over her back, Jasmine moved her hands beneath his shirt as well, tracing the muscles definitions of his chest along with the scars that he had from the abuse the criminals of Gotham have given him over the years. Jasmine was rather proud to hear as Dick gave small, pleased sound against her lips before breaking their kiss for a moment, only to breathe sharply as she saw the burning desire in his eyes. Jasmine drew his shirt up, and he tugged it off, letting it drop to the ground before they kissed each other passionately. She pressed up against him, trailing her hands along his chest and to his back slowly, following the map his scars left on his skin. Jasmine felt his hand move further up her back, making her shirt start to ride up as well.

"Dick…can we-" Jasmine began breathlessly after pulling from the kiss, her face flushed and her heart racing. However, the sound of footsteps caught her attention, and she cut off abruptly. Dick peered over her shoulder, looking rather embarrassed, and she followed his gaze, seeing Tim standing there like a deer caught in headlights, a large book resting in his arms. Immediately, Jasmine blushed darkly and smacked Dick's chest, since his hand was still beneath her shirt and resting on her back. Coughing a little, he pulled his hand away, and instead wrapped it around her waist after she pulled the hem of her shirt down.

"Don't tell me you've been there this entire time, Tim." Dick smirked, playing it off. The poor boy's whole face turned a dark red.

"N-N-No, o-of course n-not!" He stuttered terribly, swallowing hard, "I-I swear I w-wasn't w-watching. Just…um…got a b-book." He said nervously and in embarrassment, holding his book up. Jasmine and Dick shared a look, and Dick gave a small wink. Jasmine then looked back to Tim, her face serious.

"Oh I don't know, Dick. He seems to be lying to me."

"I was just thinking the same thing, Jasmine."

"W-What?! N-No I swear! Y-You're door was open!" Tim exclaimed looking horrified. Jasmine just couldn't keep a straight face at this point.

"Tim, calm down. We know. You're fine. We're just giving you a hard time." She spoke with a soft laugh. Dick chuckled lightly moving his other arm around her and hugged her from behind, resting his head on her shoulder lightly. A small blush came over her, since he was…well…sort of shirtless at the moment.

"Oh…right. Um…can you close the door next time?" He asked in this small voice, averting his eyes and everything. * _Oh my god…I feel so guilty. This poor boy._ *

"Yeah, no problem, Timmy." Dick spoke with a light smile.

"Tim, how about we go train?" She spoke up, and Dick sighed lightly, pressing his face against her neck.

"Jasmine…" He complained in a small groan and she smirked. Tim looked between them for a moment.

"Well if the two of you are… _busy_ …then I can just train by myself." He spoke awkwardly.

"Jasmine, we are rather busy-" Dick began, clearing his throat but Jasmine pulled out of his arms, making him sigh lightly.

"Nonsense. I'll meet you there, okay Tim?" She spoke with a warm smile. Tim stared at her in what seemed to be surprise. If Jasmine were to guess, it was probably because he has never seen this side of her.

"Um…yeah, okay." He said, and then walked off.

Jasmine turned to Dick, who looked at her with a joking injured look, "I feel so unwanted."

"You could always join us, you know." She smiled at him, picking up his shirt and tossing it to him. He caught it then tugged it on.

"That's fine. It's about time you and Tim had some sibling bonding." He spoke to her with a gentle smile. Jasmine looked to him lovingly then walked up, kissing his cheek.

"That's what I was thinking, which was why I offered to go train with him. I'll see you later." She said happily.

"I thought so," Dick chuckled then kissed pecked her lips before stepping back, raising his hand, "See you later, Jazz." He spoke.

Jasmine smiled widely at him before leaving the room. It had been so long since she was this happy. This…free. There was a bounce to her step as she made her way down to the Batcave, and she couldn't but smile on her way there.


	10. Chapter 10

**I am so so sorry this chapter took insanely long to write. I've had a lot of things happen the past few weeks, and, as bad of an excuse this is, I have been really low on motivation lately as well. I finally found a day where I'm not busy, and was able to finish this. I hope you guys like this installment of Crimson Revenge, and that it was worth the wait. As for when the next chapter will be posted next, I will honestly say that I'm not entirely sure. It may take a few weeks, or it may take a month or so. I apologize in advance, but like I said, everything is getting extremely busy at the moment. Thanks for reading!**

 **-Bookreader777**

Chapter 10

"Nice one, Tim!"

"Jasmine…I punched you in the face, how is that good?!"

Jasmine looked at Tim warmly, rubbing her cheek lightly. They had been sparring, as she said they would be, and he had definitely gotten better since the last time she trained with him, which really wasn't that long ago. She had told him not to hold anything back, and just let his fighting instinct take over. If he didn't practice 100%, then he couldn't improve his very best. So, she landed a few hard punches to the poor boy here and there, since she didn't want to be hypocritical and go easy on him or anything. However, she definitely hadn't expected him to move as swift as he did and land a well-executed punch to her cheek. While Tim was fretting over it, Jasmine was smiling widely, looking excited.

" _Because_ you punched me in the face! Think about it, Timmy. You weren't able to land one a few days ago." She said to him lightly, and Tim blinked.

"Timmy?" He repeated in a murmur, gazing at her in an almost curious and freaked out kind of way before clearing his throat, "I mean…when you put it that way, I guess it isn't too bad."

"Of course it isn't bad. I told you to. What did you think was going to happen? It's not like I'm going to beat you up because you landed a punch on me."

"Are you sure?"

" _Tim._ Is my fist connecting with your face at the moment?"

"Um, no…"

"Exactly. So stop freaking out about it," She scolded him before smiling lightly, "Besides. I hardly felt it."

Tim's eyes widened a little at her statement, "How did you hardly feel it? I punched you really hard, Jasmine!"

A soft sigh escaped her lips and she gave a rather nonchalant shrug, "My pain resistance has been built up since I was seven years old. I don't react to a lot of things that people would normally wince from when experiencing that pain…save for fire. I hate fire." She explained to him.

"Your pain resistance is really that high?" He breathed, though a part of him didn't look too surprised. That raised curiosity in Jasmine for a moment, though she didn't think too much about it.

Jasmine simply nodded, grabbing the two water bottles from the ground and tossing one to Tim. He easily caught it, and the two quietly drank their water to rehydrate themselves. They had been training for about two hours already. They started with a regular workout, like weight-lifting and running laps around the area. Then they transitioned to the staff, which had actually been a fairly even match. This time, Jasmine hadn't caught Tim off guard as easily as the last time. Now, they were working on their hand-to-hand combat. Jasmine had an obvious advantage over him, trained not only by Batman, but also Risuka, so she had learned plenty of different fighting styles that she has merged into one. So now, she was teaching Tim a few different moves that he could use to take down criminals, and even surprise Bruce a little when they trained next. After about an hour of this side of their training, they had started sparring. Jasmine won every match so far, which wasn't much of a surprise.

"Jasmine…why did you come to train with me? I thought I was a nuisance to you." Tim spoke up quietly after a moment, and Jasmine turned to him. Slowly, she lowered her eyes, wincing a little at his question. She knew it was going to come up at some point, considering she hadn't treated the young boy well since the first day she met him. Now, she seemed to have taken a complete 180 in only a day. It was probably confusing to him since he had never seen a light-hearted side to her.

"You aren't a nuisance to me, Tim," Jasmine sighed lightly, twisting the cap back onto the bottle, "You never have been. I've just treated you that way. Trust me, I regret having done so as well." She spoke quietly, sitting on the floor and motioning him over. Tim hesitated for just a second before walking over and sitting down in front of her, looking at her expectantly.

"When I first met you I'll honestly say that I never wanted you to become Robin. It had only been a few months after Jason died, and I thought it was much too early to be taking on a new Robin. At the time, I was a bit in denial about Jason's death. I kept looking for any signs of him. I was convinced that the video just wasn't true. It was one of Joker's sick jokes. So I kept looking, but when Joker died, I realized that it was futile. Jason really was dead. At the time, I had a horrible, murderous hatred towards Joker. Since he died in Arkham City due to having injected himself with Venom, all that anger and hatred turned to the next best thing. Harley. When I finally found her, we had been out in Gotham together. Bruce wanted me to evaluate your performance. He had done the same thing with me and Jason, actually. Anyways, do you remember that night, Tim?" She asked quietly, looking up at him. He nodded slowly.

"Yeah…I remember. When we found Harley…you tried to kill her." He said lowly.

"Exactly. The thing is Tim…if it hadn't been for you, I _would_ have murdered her. However, you stepped in front of her right as I was going to give the killing blow…and you took it instead. It hit your cheek, and you fell from the impact of the whip hitting you. I…God, Tim, you have no idea how horrible I felt. I thought…I thought I killed _you_ at first. That my whip lashed across your throat instead of your cheek. Then…then you never told Bruce. You said a criminal had swiped a knife across your cheek. I don't know why you protected me that day, Tim, but you gained every ounce of respect from me. I also believed that…I was a curse. That if you continued to be around me, you would end up dead. Just like Jason. Not only that, but I was terrified to place any of my already damaged trust in you. So, after that, I tried harder than ever to push you away and keep you at a far distance from me. But now…I understand that I'm not this curse. I'm better than what I was back then, and I want to get to know you, Tim. I'm done pushing everyone away." She explained to him quietly, meeting his eyes seriously. Tim stared at her in what seemed to be astonishment, lightly raising his fingers to his cheek where her whip had lashed across it so many months ago.

"I didn't tell Bruce that day because I figured that there was something between you and Harley. Some bad blood, I guess you could say. I know that what you almost did was terribly serious, but the way you instantly ran up to me with your voice and hands shaking…I knew that you felt guilty for what happened. In that moment, I didn't think that you would try it again either. I just had a feeling, and I guess I was right. I know that Harley is your mom, Jasmine, and that Joker is, well was, your dad. I just want you to know that I don't think of you any differently because of it. Dick told me about your past, but that was only because I was being kept in the dark about everything that was going on. You definitely aren't a curse. You've just lived with misfortune," Tim spoke to her calmly before giving a smile, "I'm really glad you aren't going to be pushing me away anymore. I look forward to knowing you better, Jasmine."

Jasmine had listened to Tim attentively, though her eyes had widened a little in surprise when he said that Dick had told him of her past. Perhaps she would have been mad if she were still in that closed off mood of hers, but now, she was actually rather grateful for Dick having told Tim. She didn't like talking about her past, or admitted what happened in it. It just brought up terrible memories. Memories she would prefer to keep buried than resurfacing. This kept her from having to return and dwell in the past. She was a little surprised to hear that Tim didn't think too differently of her after hearing of her parentage, but was relieved that he wasn't judging her based upon them at the same time.

"Thanks for giving me a second chance, Tim." She said to him lightly. Tim smiled warmly then nodded.

"Of course, Jasmine."

"Aaaaanyways…" Jasmine drew out, not wanting them to revert into the typical awkward silence after a heartfelt conversation, "want to continue training, or would you prefer getting lunch?"

Tim tilted his head thoughtfully to the side for a moment, only for his stomach to grumble. He gave a light laugh then rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I guess lunch it is." Jasmine laughed lightly before getting to her feet, holding her hand out for him to take. Tim smiled up at her, taking her hand and she pulled him up.

"I have one request." Tim said, looking over at Jasmine as they walked towards the elevator. Jasmine looked up at the taller yet younger boy questioningly.

"Alright, what is it?"

"We have something _other_ than cereal."

Jasmine stared at him in confusion, "Cereal? Why would we have cereal for…" She trailed off then burst out into laughter, now understanding, "Dick makes you have cereal for lunch?" She giggled, placing her hand over her mouth to try to muffle and quiet down her laugh.

"Yeah. Cereal. I don't know about you, but I think of it as a breakfast food. Not an all-day every day kind of food, like Dick thinks it is." He sighed.

"He's so weird." Jasmine laughed quietly.

"I agree…except I guess the joke is on you since you two are dating.

"Shut up, Drake."

"What? It's the truth! Speaking of…are the two of you dating? I mean, I just assumed." He breathed out, a teasing smile playing in his lips. Jasmine considered this for a moment, before looking to him.

"I think so. We've both said that we love each other, so I would assume we are. He hasn't exactly asked me formally though." She spoke thoughtfully.

"Wow, and I thought he was supposed to be good with girls." Tim breathed and Jasmine smirked lightly. The two of them walked into the kitchen, and Jasmine walked towards the pantry and opened it, peering at the contents. Alfred taught her how to cook a few simple things, not anything complicated though. After a few moments, she pulled out some bread and held it up.

"How about grilled cheese?"

It was only a matter of a couple of minutes before Jasmine and Tim were sitting side by side and eating the food Jasmine had quickly made. They spoke lightheartedly, and Jasmine had to admit that it was really nice to just be around someone so effortlessly. She didn't worry for once, and she didn't fill her head with dark, terrible thoughts. Really, the whole thing was a relief. A part of her had considered that fact that Tim may not have let her try to get close to him after all this time of being so cruel and cold. She certainly wouldn't have blamed him for doing so. Instead, he allowed her a second chance, and for that, she was entirely grateful. It gave Jasmine hope that she really could set everything she messed up right.

In the midst of their lunch, Jasmine and Tim looked over as the door swung open, revealing Dick. He had pulled his shirt on, and regarded the two with a light smile before walking over and getting himself a glass of water. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment before she averted her eyes as small flashbacks of their moment replayed in her head, which only let her flustered. She was still horrified poor Tim witnessed some of it. Thankfully, it hadn't gotten very far when he accidently looked over. Though, it also made Jasmine wonder just how far she and Dick were going to take it. * _Had I truly almost asked him if we could-*_

"Aren't you two supposed to be training?"

Jasmine quickly looked up, pulling away from her thoughts. Dick was leaning back against a counter, his glass of water in his hand and a calm, laidback smile playing on his lips. He seemed pretty comfortable about the whole situation, and seemingly not flustered at all. Of course, she supposed that he could just be concealing any of those feelings from emerging at the moment.

"Yeah, but we got hungry. Besides, we trained for a good while," Tim spoke up, and Jasmine gave a nod in agreement before taking a bite of the grilled cheese.

"Psh, slackers." Dick teased them with a small smile before walking around and sat beside Jasmine.

"If I remember correctly, you didn't train, so doesn't that make you the slacker?" Jasmine pointed out, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Well damn. Looks like the tables have turned," He chuckled softly, and Jasmine offered a smile before finishing off her sandwich and getting up. She took her plate to the sink and started to wash it off, only for a pair of arms to wrap around her from behind.

"You're like a puppy, Dick." Tim called jokingly and Jasmine laughed, turning her head to the side so she could see him.

"He's not wrong, you know."

Dick let out a heavy sigh and pecked her cheek, "Just revel in the moment, Quinn."

"I don't think Bruce would approve of this overwhelming amount of PDA." Tim smirked.

"Well, Bruce isn't here," Dick grumbled.

"But Alfred is. He could always tell Bruce about our huge display, and then we'll have to be kept in separate rooms at all times." Jasmine spoke, feigning seriousness, and Dick rolled his eyes.

"I'm feeling attacked."

"That's because Tim and I are an unstoppable force."

"Is that right?"

"It must be, since I'm never wrong" Jasmine teased lightheartedly and he shook his head with a small laugh.

"Well, if you don't want me around…" Dick spoke, letting the sentence hang and started to slowly pull away. Jasmine widened her eyes a little and rested her hands on his arms gently, keeping him from pulling back.

"I never said that."

Dick didn't waste any time pulling her back against his chest after this and kissed her cheek lightly, "I will honestly say that these displays of affection are weirding me out. Just so you two know," Tim called out. Dick and Jasmine looked at the younger boy.

"I guess you'll need to get used to it then." Dick spoke and Jasmine smiled lightly.

oOo

Batwoman stood atop of a building. Like the last time she had been out in Gotham, she was waiting for the arrival of a van. This time, however, she was not alone. Nightwing was crouched beside her, balancing on the balls of his feet at the edge of the building as he peered down. Earlier that night they had gotten one of Penguin's men to give them a location where Red Hood should be showing up, or at least, some of his men. They needed to obtain information on where the drugs were, or when they were going to be distributed out onto the streets. Either one worked, but just receiving a single source would be vital.

"Does it always take this long for them to arrive?" Nightwing sighed lightly, slowly stretching up from his crouching position.

"Well, last time it took forever. I'm not really surprised at this point." She said to him, crossing her arms over her chest as she gazed at the street below.

"Are you sure that guy was telling the truth? This seems a little...too late." He sighed, and Batwoman cracked a small smile.

"Don't tell me you're getting tired."

"Never in my life," Nightwing chuckled.

"Anyways, in all seriousness, it crossed my mind a few times, but I think we should wait just a little bit longer. It's hard to imagine that our interrogation methods combined didn't work. Not only that, but most criminals here in Gotham have a pretty basic fear for me. Besides, it took about this long when I was waiting for that one van to arrive the other night. We'll just have to remain patient for now."

"You know, in the amount of time we've been waiting, I probably could have stopped two banks from being robbed, and about five muggings," He sighed, and Batwoman laughed lightly.

"It hasn't been _that_ long," She stated in amusement. Nightwing simply cracked a smile.

The two fell into silence once again, both of their covered eyes scanning the area. It was then that a small rumbling sound caught Batwoman's attention, and she directed her attention to the right, which was where it was coming from. Before long, a black van rolled out and she crouched down as Nightwing did. Being on top of the building meant being closer to the enemy, but it also meant being detected was a higher possibility than being on an entirely different building. Being detected and losing the element of surprise most certainly was not in the plan any time soon.

As the van doors opened, Batwoman braced herself to see Red Hood, who the past few times, seemed to have been able to pick out her hiding places easily. She still had no idea how he was capable of that. However, instead, three henchmen came out. By the red bands they had on, they were under Red Hood. The men's eyes seemed to shift around almost nervously before one stepped up. He wasn't a particularly handsome man, with thin brown hair, a scruffy beard and mustache and bulging muscles. His eye color, Batwoman guessed, were brown, considering they didn't stand out in the dim lighting.

"We know you're here, Batwoman! We didn't come for a fight. Just…just to talk," He called out, darting his eyes around.

"Well this is an odd turn of events." Batwoman whispered and Nightwing glanced over before nodding.

"You could say that again. I don't spot any guns on them though. Even though I don't trust them, perhaps we should go down." He whispered back.

"Right. I'll go down first. If you don't see anything suspicious, join me." She spoke to him quietly.

"Gotcha."

Batwoman slowly stood up and jumped off the building. Her cape stretched out into that of bat-like wings, and she glided forwards. The men backed away a little, probably intimidated, and Batwoman drew her cape down, the wing like appearance disappearing, and she landed lightly on her feet in front of them. The two men that flanked the "leader" seemed uncertain. The leader himself seemed to be a rather wary himself, though it seemed like he was trying not to express it.

"How did you know I was here?" She asked lowly.

"We were originally assigned to inspect this warehouse and clean out anything that could have been left behind. A few of Penguin's men knew of it since the Boss is allied with him, and we figured that since you've been following his trail, this was where you would turn up," The man explained.

"Originally assigned?" Batwoman frowned.

"We…decided to leave Red Hood's gang. I figured out what they were going to use the drug for, and that's way too destructive for me. So I told these two, and they agreed. We're here to tell you when and where the drugs are going to be shipped," He explained.

Batwoman studied the three of them. The story seemed almost too good to be true. However, none of them seemed hostile, and hadn't brought any weapons. Even criminals were humane from time to time. Especially, henchmen. They were just puppets being controlled by a puppet master. Some of them did this stuff because they enjoyed it and got a good amount of money from it. Others did it for bragging rights, and others couldn't find a well-paying job anywhere else, and decided to take this up to make a decent amount of money. So, the fact that they ran off from this plan of turning the people of two cities to brainless slaves wasn't that absurd. It simply made them human. As the thud of feet hitting the ground reached Batwoman's ears, she assumed Nightwing thought the same.

"Then tell me," She said to them strictly, and Nightwing stopped beside her, crossing his arms over his chest as he regarded the three men. At his presence, their nerves seemed to escalate, but the leader simply cleared his throat a little before speaking up.

"Well, the drug distribution will begin tomorrow night. One load will head to Bludhaven, and another will be handed out around Gotham. Blockbuster is to receive the load for Bludhaven, then pass it out around the city. Penguin is handing it out here in Gotham. Two of Penguin's most trusted men are going to drive to Bludhaven to give to Blockbuster, but Penguin will begin immediately. The drugs are all being stored in the back of Penguin's club, and are going to be shipped off at 10 p.m. sharp. Red Hood should be there for the loading as well," The man said to them. Batwoman glanced at Nightwing for a moment. Either they took the man's word for it, or they decided this was a set up. Still, they didn't have a lot of options at the moment. They didn't have any other leads.

"You better not be lying," Nightwing said in a low, dangerous sounding voice. Batwoman said nothing, but simply narrowed her eyes. All three men shifted uneasily, and the leader tugged at his collar before holding his hands up innocently.

"It's not a lie. I-I swear."

"Are the drugs in the back of Penguin's club now?" Batwoman asked, though it was more so of a demand.

"Not all of them. If you attacked tonight, then they would take extra precaution," The leader quickly responded. Both Nightwing and Batwoman studied him before looking to each other and giving a small nod.

"Thank you for your information and cooperation," Batwoman said, deciding to let the three go.

"You're free to go. However, if any of us ever see the three of you breaking the law again…you'll regret it" Nightwing added in, making his voice take a dark edge.

"U-Understood." The three of them stuttered in response.

"I hope we never see the three of you again," Batwoman stated before pulling her batclaw out, and Nightwing followed suit. They shot it, then took off into the air, swinging through the alleyways before landing on the roof of a building. Immediately, Batwoman turned to Nightwing.

"Should we take their word for not attacking today?"

"It made sense. If there are more drugs still shipping to the club, then giving away that we know where they are headed would make them switch loading places. Then we would have to search Gotham inside and out. It'll definitely be easier to wait until tomorrow night, but we'll have much more pressure to stop those shipments. If we fail, then both Bludhaven and Gotham are going to fall into chaos," Nightwing explained. Batwoman sighed quietly, gritting her teeth a little.

"I hate having to wait like this. It puts me on edge," She breathed.

"I know. Me too," Nightwing murmured before straightening up a little, "Let's head back to the manor. Batman and Robin can take care of the rest for tonight. We need to devise a plan of attack against the club for tomorrow night. We need it to be a success," He said seriously.

"Right."

Nightwing and Batwoman called for their cycles, which arrived in only a matter of a few minutes. They jumped down from the building before mounting the bikes and took off to the Batcave's entrance. It really didn't take that long to get their and park their bikes in the designated spots considering the speeds they always drive at. Jasmine pulled her helmet off and then her mask. Yawning a little, she pushed her fingers through her hair then looked to Dick. His helmet was resting on the seat of his motorcycle's seat, and his mask hung from his fingers, allowing his blue-gray eyes to be exposed in all of their brilliance.

"We can stay down here and figure everything out, or we could just lounge upstairs. Whichever you want is fine with me," Dick offered as they began to walk from the platform. Jasmine tilted her head a little in thought.

"Hmm…let's go upstairs. It's not exactly comfortable in the cave." She said with a light smile, and Dick chuckled.

"Well, you have a point. I think I have some papers in my room that we could use to draw everything out. Meet me there? I'm guessing you don't want to stay in your uniform."

"Your guess is absolutely correct. Yeah, I'll meet you in your room after we part ways," Jasmine responded lightly.

"Back so early, Master Dick, Madam Jasmine?"

Jasmine and Dick looked over their shoulders, spotting Alfred at the Batcomputer. He was probably feeding Batman any information that he needed. Barbara wasn't available at the moment, though Jasmine couldn't remember the exact reason. That left Alfred, so he'd probably be busy all night, considering pulling Bruce from Gotham could prove to be an almost impossible task at times. At least, that's what Dick and Tim said. Even Jason did back when he was still alive.

"Yeah. The case we're working on doesn't continue on until tomorrow. We're here to figure out a strategy, since failure really isn't an option," Dick spoke up.

"I see. Well, I do hope you both put the time you could be helping Master Bruce and Master Tim to good use then," The butler spoke levelly before turning back to the Batcomputer.

Dick and Jasmine shared a small glance before heading into the elevator. As soon as the door closed, Jasmine sighed lightly. Now she felt entirely guilty for not being out in Gotham and assisting Bruce and Tim with whatever they were up to at the moment. Alfred was always able to create that kind of effect when he wanted to.

"Alfred Pennyworth: Making people feel guilty through indirect comments since the early 1900s," Dick spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck and Jasmine laughed.

"Well, you're not wrong. I feel like a despicable human being despite the fact we're going to be working on our case," She breathed.

"Oh, I know. Honestly, I think he's more so worried about Bruce's lack of sleep than anything. He took up that investigation of the False Face Society with Tim that was never completed," Dick explained to her. Jasmine blinked in surprise at this. She had no idea that Bruce had continued that old mission.

"Really? With Joker dead, I would have figured that those venom filled drugs died out," She stated, walking out with Dick as the elevator doors opened and heading towards their rooms.

"Yeah, they did. Apparently, they are raising some more hell. After Joker died, they seemed to as well. I mean, nothing really happened with them. Maybe a few small things here and there, but never anything big. Now, according to Bruce, they have steadily gotten more and more suspicious and malevolent. I don't really know any details about the cases, or what Bruce is investigating though," Dick explained seriously.

"Huh. That makes me concerned. What if they applied that new drug to theirs like with Joker's venom?" Jasmine breathed, her eyes widening. Now that would be absolutely terrible. If this was the case, then she and Dick were way behind on their case, since they would have three different opponents to focus on. They couldn't be in more than two places at once.

"I don't think the False Face Society has anything to do with our case. According to Bruce, Red Hood has been stealing some of this new Black Mask's members, so they definitely aren't allied together," Dick said before resting his hand on her shoulder reassuringly and stopping outside of her room, "Don't worry too much, Jazz." He said with a gentle smile.

Jasmine let out a deep breath before smiling back at him, "Right. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Jasmine entered her room, gently closing the door behind her before she set her mask on her bed, which was soon followed by her suit once she pulled it off. Yawning, she walked to a dresser and pulled out a dark purple tank top and a pair of black sweatpants. It wasn't the most attractive outfit, but then again, she wasn't really going for attractive. They were simply discussing their attack plans. Grabbing a hair tie, Jasmine drew her long, light brown hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her face, since she figured they would be using diagrams to draw it all out and wanted her hair to stay out of the way. The last thing she did before leaving was quickly brushing her teeth.

As she exited her room, Jasmine walked the short distance to Dick's and stopped in front of it before knocking. It only took a few seconds for the door to swing open. Dick stood in the doorway, his longish black hair messy, and a few strands here and there curved out. Unsurprisingly, he was able to pull it off extraordinarily. He was wearing black sweatpants as Jasmine was, but unlike her, was shirtless at the moment, though a blue shirt hung from his left hand. It was hard to not admire him for a quick second, with his lightly tanned skin covering over the defined muscles of his arms, chest and abdomen. The faintest hints of scars stood out, though Jasmine thought they simply just made him more attractive, if that were possible.

"Not wearing a shirt? You're going to start making me believe you are trying to seduce me," She spoke teasingly and he smiled at her before stepping back from the doorway so she could walk into his room.

"Damn, Quinn. You have me all figured out," He chuckled softly.

"I knew it. You can't get anything past me, Grayson!" She said with a wide smile as she walked into the room. In response, he rolled his eyes at her good naturally.

"That's what you think. Little do you know, I have a whole masterplan in mind," He smirked lightly, pulling his shirt on and closing the door.

"Is that so?"

"Mhm. You're going to be completely helpless once it carries through."

Jasmine rested her hands on her hips as he walked up to her, "You may be surprised."

An almost mischievous smile played on Dick's lips and he walked up, gently resting his fingers on her chin and tilted her head up to him, gazing into her eyes, "I'm never surprised."

A soft blush came over Jasmine's cheeks and her heart quickened for a moment, considering their faces were in close proximity, let alone their bodies. However, they had plans to discuss, as much as she hated to be the killjoy, "Liar," She teased him softly before pecking his lips then pulled away, "Anyways, we should start on the planning."

"Yeah, I suppose we should," Dick breathed out, gazing at her for a moment. Jasmine felt her cheeks just heat up again at his small action, which caused a light smile to quirk up on his lips before he walked over to his desk and pulled a few blank sheets of paper off of it, followed by two pencils. He set them on the ground before sitting, leaning back against his bed and smiling lightly over at her, "I hope you don't mind, but the desk isn't exactly big, and the bed would make writing a little hard."

"I don't mind," Jasmine spoke, taking a deep breath to calm herself from her flustered state before walking over and sitting beside him.

Immediately, Jasmine became serious and leaned forward before taking a pencil into her hand. She then began to sketch a layout of Penguin's club. At least, what she remembered from what it looked like. Of course, she didn't know an extremely detailed layout like she had with her parents' buildings. It was just a basic knowledge, really. In fact, considering his history, Dick probably knew more Penguin's club than she did. Still, she was as detailed with the overview of the building as she could be before glancing at Dick, she had been watching her sketch out the layout with a serious expression as well.

"Is this fine?" She asked, and Dick looked to her before nodding.

"Yeah," He spoke before taking his own pencil and placing two circles on the paper where the roof was labelled, "We should start on the roof, and go through the hatch. Hopefully, Penguin hasn't covered it up or anything. If he has, then we can still go through a window that's far from where the drugs are being loaded. I'm guessing that there will be people mostly in the back of the nightclub," He began.

"Wouldn't us going into the back of the nightclub be blatantly obvious then? If we are already in the building, then we will have to slip through the doorway," She stated and Dick sighed.

"You have a point, but crashing through a window would be worse. That will attract too much attention. Going in through the shipping area where the back of the club is would be our other option. However, if we were to be spotted, then we lose an element of surprise. With going through the doorway, it's obvious, yes, but if we are able to remain out of sight until we strike, then we'll have that surprise to startle them with," He explained, and Jasmine nodded slowly, watching as he trailed a small route along the sketch of the nightclub's layout.

"This is just a guess of how we will move through the building, but you get the idea," Dick breathed, only to then look at her, "Now we need to discuss our fight strategy, assuming we successfully surprise them."

"We should take the vans out first. Stopping the distribution is the main priority," Jasmine stated.

"I agree. We need to consider that people are going to have guns and that Penguin and Red Hood will be there," He said then looked back down at the layout for a moment, "We need to take the guns out once we enter. That should only take a few seconds by using the batarangs. Then, we'll split up. I'll use smoke balls, and you head to the vans to take them out. I'll combat Penguin and Hood."

"Dick, you can't take both of them on your own. Red Hood is better than what I had expected him to be. Not only that, but there is going to be henchmen around. You'll be overwhelmed," Jasmine breathed and he gave a light smile.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be able to take care of it. Anyways, once you compromise the vans, then destroy the shipment. After that, you can join the fight," He said seriously. Jasmine scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.

"There is _no_ way I'm just letting you put yourself in the biggest amount of danger, Dick Grayson. If you get killed-"

"I won't get killed, Jazz. Trust me. I'll be able to hold out while you take care of the shipment. I promise," Dick breathed out to her.

"I still don't like it," Jasmine murmured, looking away from him. It still worried her. She didn't want to lose Dick after she just got him back. If that happened…she wasn't sure how she would react. It would crush her. Still, they needed to take out the drugs. It was the main focus of their mission, and came first before anything else. It was what they did as vigilantes protecting a city. They had to sacrifice themselves for the good of all the innocent people. Jasmine closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before reopening them and looking back towards the sketch.

"In the case that it doesn't work, what should our plan be?" She asked, biting her lower lip softly as she thought through possible strategies. When she didn't get an answer, she looked over at him, only to meet his stunning blue eyes.

"Why are you staring at me?" She asked softly. He gave a charming smile and gently rested his rough hand on her cheek, brushing his thumb along her skin.

"Because you're beautiful."

Jasmine felt her cheeks heat up, no doubt turning that soft pink color once more, "You're a hopeless flirt, Grayson."

"Oh you know you love it, Quinn," He laughed softly, leaning towards her. Jasmine closed her eyes, her heart starting to pound as he stopped, his lips brushing just lightly against hers.

"You sure about that?" She murmured softly, slowly resting her hand on his chest and feeling the quick thudding of his own heart.

"Positive."

Jasmine then kissed Dick gently, his lips as soft as always. They started out as small, short yet slow kisses, only to gradually become deeper and more meaningful. She felt his hand slowly move from her cheek to her shoulder then trail down to her side and back. As the flat of his palm rested on the small of her back, she felt him pull her to him as they kissed so their bodies were closer than they had been. Jasmine moved her hand from his chest to the back of his neck, lightly brushing her fingertips over the soft, midnight black ends of his hair. Slowly, she pulled back, her quickened breathes mingling with his for a moment before she peered open her blue-green eyes and gazed up at him, meeting his hypnotic blue-gray.

"I love you, Dick," She whispered softly, putting as much meaning and emotion that she could muster into those four words.

Dick was quiet for only a moment, "I love you too, Jasmine," He breathed out.

All at once, they pressed their lips together again, kissing deeply and slowly, each one more searing and loving as the last. Slowly, Jasmine shifted her body, moving on top of his lap and resting her hands on his shoulders. He moved his arms around her body and drew her closer so she was pressed up against his chest. Slowly, she felt him tug the band from her hair, allowing her long, wavy hair to tumble down her back and over her shoulders. At this point, her heart was racing and pounding all at once, and Jasmine couldn't help but to think back to what she had been about to ask earlier that day when they had been making out in his room. That is, until Tim showed up. It made her nervous, timid even. However, at the same time…she couldn't think that she would ever not love Richard Grayson. As she broke the kiss, she leaned back a little, and Dick gazed at her in what seemed to be in question. However, before he could say anything, Jasmine gripped the hem of her tank top and drew it off before setting it to the side, blushing softly. Dick seemed taken aback for a moment.

"J-Jasmine, are you sure…" He began, trailing off as she leaned towards him once more, resting her hands on his chest and meeting his eyes.

"Yes," She murmured, studying him for a moment before blushing darkly herself and turning her head away from him, "If…you don't want to…" She began, but Jasmine cut off as Dick gently brought her face back to his and kissed her sweetly for a quick second.

"I didn't say that. I just want to be sure this is what you want," He breathed to her softly.

"I'm sure," Jasmine said to him seriously.

"Alright," Dick said quietly, pulling his arms back from her and drew his own shirt off. Jasmine took a deep breath before reaching behind her and unclasping her bra, drawing it off and letting it rest on top of their shirts. Dick stared at her for a moment, which only made her shy and she averted her eyes timidly and blushed darkly.

"I-Is something wrong?" She breathed, only to feel Dick's arms wrap around the small of her back, drawing her close to his chest once again, and she looked back at him. His own face seemed flustered, his pupils were dilated and his breathes came out quicker than normal.

"Oh God no…no, nothing's wrong," He spoke to her quickly before meeting her eyes, swallowing hard before speaking up, "You're gorgeous, Jasmine," He breathed softly.

Jasmine's blush deepened at his small declaration, and she let out a soft relieved breath before kissing him deeply once again and fluttering her eyes closed. She shivered lightly as she felt his fingertips brush along the scars that littered her back, leaving warm trails where they touched. She rested her hands on his shoulders at first before letting them trail down his chest, lightly tracing his own scars and the muscle definition. Before long, he stood up, holding her in his arms while her legs were wrapped around his waist, and set her down against the bed, breaking their kiss as he moved over her before pressing his lips under her jaw, to her neck and softly kissing down to her collarbone. Jasmine let out a few soft sighs, tilting her head back a bit to bare her neck as he kissed back up to her lips, only to brush his along hers intoxicatingly as he returned. She let him tease her for only a moment before capturing his lips in hers and kissed him lovingly and slowly. Their hands trailed and explored each other, and soon, the rest of their clothes joined the others on the ground beside the bed. They paused as Dick reached into the drawer of his nightstand to get protection, only to then gaze at each other, both of their breathes coming out unevenly.

"You're sure, Jasmine?" Dick murmured, lightly trailing his thumb along Jasmine's bottom lip.

"I haven't changed my mind," She breathed to him, only to rest her hand on his cheek gently, "Just promise me something."

"Anything for you."

"Don't die tomorrow, Dick," She whispered, and he met her eyes.

"You have my word," He said to her gently, then sealed his promise with a deep, loving kiss.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Are you ready?"

"I don't have much of a choice but to be."

"You have a point."

Nightwing looked over at Batwomen after his statement. They were crouching on the ceiling of Penguin's nightclub. She seemed tense, and really, he couldn't blame her. The way this night would end was crucial to the future of both Gotham and Bludhaven. If they failed, then a large amount of the populations would become drug addicts with their minds enslaved to Penguin. Of course, he was rather tense as well. However, he has handled situations similar to these plenty of times before. It was probably easier and more natural for him to handle than it was for her. However, at the moment, he felt more pressure for this night to go right. All those other times, he had never made a promise.

Never would Nightwing have imagined what had happened last night. Well, maybe he had imagined it, but he never really thought that it was going to happen anytime soon, and surely not when it had. Now, he just wanted her to stay away from the fight, and let him do it. The last thing he wanted was to see her get hurt, let alone killed. A small fear had been gnawing at him, which all focused on the promise he made to her last night. He couldn't die today. It was something that he typically wouldn't worry about, but with the Red Hood guy…he had no idea how he fought. Nightwing wanted to uphold his promise. Not just for her, but because he didn't want to die either. It definitely wasn't on his list of to-do things.

"Of course I do," Batwoman chuckled quietly.

Nightwing smiled slightly from what she said. It was almost hard to imagine that Jasmine had been any different before. Hell, for a year and five months. He had missed her smile, her laugh, just every aspect of her in general. He knew that he had been around her more than usual since they made up. He was being a "puppy," in the words of both Jasmine and Tim. The thing was, he just didn't want to be apart from her. They had already been separate for seventeen months, and quite honestly, Nightwing had doubted the possibility of them being even close to what they once were. When it had actually become that way…he had been so undeniably happy, and he couldn't help but think that it was some kind of dream. Holding her in his arms made it real.

"Be modest now," Nightwing said, cracking a smile.

"Oh? Nightwing telling me to be modest? Now this is a change in events," Batwoman smiled, looking over at him.

"I am a _very_ modest person, I'll have you know," He grinned.

"Mhm. You think that, Big Shot." Batwoman drew out before her smile fell, and her eyes narrowed. The sound of a car engine caught his attention, and Nightwing followed her gaze. Immediately, his smile fell as well, and he became completely serious.

"It looks like the shipment is here. That's our que."

"Yeah. Stay safe, Nightwing," She breathed and he looked to her.

"You too, Batwoman."

Batwoman gave him a small nod then took her batclaw out. He took out his line launcher and the two jumped off the roof and twisted in the air at the same time, both shooting. The grappling hook part of the launchers stuck in the building and they swung towards the wall, softening the landing by bending their knees. Their feet hardly made a sound. Nightwing, being the closest to the window, moved towards it. He noticed there was already a hole in the windowpane, and glanced at Batwoman, who simply smiled lightly. Ah, so she had come in this way before. Nightwing smirked lightly before moving his hand in and unlocked the window…only for it to swing open like a gust of wind hit it. His eyes widened and tried to catch it, but the window slipped past his grasp. He tensed, waiting for the loud bang…only for it to never come. Blinking, Nightwing looked over, seeing Batwoman had caught it.

"It did that to me last time," She whispered. Nightwing breathed out in relief and shook his head. He was lucky she had been there to catch the window, or their plans would have failed.

Silently, Nightwing slipped in the window, standing off to the side as Batwoman moved in as well, pulling the window closed and locking it as she did. Quickly, he took in his surroundings. They were on a balcony overlooking the bar area where multiple tables were placed. They were in rather close proximity to the back door, which would lead them to the loading area and ultimately the drugs. Gesturing to move, he quickly and silently made his way along the balcony until he was directly over the doors leading deeper into the club. It was the sound of voices and a door closing that made him grit his teeth. Grabbing Batwoman's arm, he crouched down, pulling her with him just as two men burst through the front doors. Penguin's men.

"Any sign of'em?"

"Nope. No Batman, Batwoman, Robin or Nightwing in sight on the left side of the building. I can't believe that the Boss's plan has really gone this far. By the end of the night, we'll be the top dogs in Gotham _and_ Bludhaven," One of the men snickered.

"I dunno, Tommy. That Red Hood guy…he makes me nervous," The other one stated.

"Psh! Red Hood? He's just a paid mercenary. There is nothing to fear about a clown behind a red mask," The man, Tommy, spoke rather arrogantly.

Nightwing glanced over at Batwoman then nodded. Immediately, both the vigilantes sprang out. Batwoman used her cape to glide over, kicking the wary one and landing on him. Nightwing charged the other after landing on the ground, drawing his escrima sticks and slammed one of them against Tommy's head. He heard the sound of a punch, and figured Batwoman took out the man she had landed on.

"If there is anything someone from Gotham should know, it's that there is everything to fear about clowns," He spoke to Tommy lowly before knocking him out. The criminal had barely registered what was going on, which was why he hadn't raised any kind of alarm.

"Alright. Let's get going," Batwoman said seriously. Nightwing twirled his escrima sticks in his fingers before returning them to their place behind his back.

Nightwing and Batwoman quietly ran to the back door. Upon reaching it, Nightwing leaned against the door, setting his ear to it. There were voices, but they seemed pretty distant. So, he pulled back a little then opened the door, peering through the crack first. No one. The hallway leading to the loading area was bare. Gesturing to Batwoman, he then ran down the hallway, letting Batwoman close the door soundlessly before joining him. He paused as he came to the turn, holding up his hand to signal Batwoman he was pausing. Nightwing pressed his back flat against the wall then slowly peered over the side.

Red Hood and Penguin's henchmen alike were loading boxes into two different vans. Penguin stood off to the side, leaning on his umbrella and looking mighty proud of himself. Red Hood stood beside him. At least, Nightwing figured the guy was the Red Hood. He had never seen him before, after all. What his emotions were, Nightwing couldn't tell due to the red helmet that concealed his face. However, his arms were crossed over his chest, and his posture was stiff. He had on black cargo pants, and had a belt that held packs at his waist, along with two gun holsters. A knife sheath was strapped to his right leg. He also had a dark brown leather jacket on. Since his back was facing Nightwing at the moment, he had no idea if he had any body armor on or the likes. The man towered over Penguin. It was almost comical seeing the two by each other in appearance.

"Hurry it up, you useless fledglings! We don't have all night!" Penguin's voice shouted out, and he picked his umbrella up and waved it in the air warningly. Red Hood seemed uninterested, and slowly drummed his gloved fingers along his arm.

At the moment, Nightwing assumed that they might as well attack. Using smoke bombs like they had discussed in the strategy should give them enough time to confuse the criminals. While they tried to orient themselves, he would go after Red Hood and Penguin, giving the two villains the assumption it was only him. Then Batwoman would take out the vans by first slashing the tires. Hopefully, he will be able to hold off the two gangsters long enough for her to destroy the shipment, or at least a portion of it. He glanced at Batwoman, who held up smokeballs between her fingers. With a small smile, he nodded to her and switched places with her. Then, she rolled the four smokeballs into the room. They almost instantly expelled black gas.

Nightwing took off at a sprint with Batwoman right beside him at first before she slipped off as they entered the main part of the loading area, her suit allowing her to easily meld into the smoke. Henchmen shouted in their confusion and disorientation, and the sound of a few thuds told him Batwoman was taking a few out that got in her way. He was doing the same as he made his way towards Red Hood and Penguin. What worried him was that Red Hood was still just standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. However, he had stopped drumming his fingers along his arm. Penguin, however, was in more of an uproar, shouting at his men then looking around the smoke with darting, furious eyes. Taking a deep breath, Nightwing then moved himself before the two bosses, giving a wide, infuriating smile.

"Oh come on, Cobblepot. You really shouldn't be that surprised that you're plans are being ruined. It happens every time," He spoke with a smirk, earning a scowl from Penguin, who had to squint his eyes to make out Nightwing in the smoke.

"You are an infuriating little brat," Penguin spat, raising his umbrella. Immediately, Nightwing rolled to the side as bullets shot out and he chuckled softly before drawing his escrima sticks.

"It's what I do best," He spoke up.

Nightwing struck forward, swinging an escrima stick towards Penguin's head when…it was blocked, and Nightwing found himself face to face with Red Hood. The masked man was a few inches taller than him. White glows came from where his eyes were covered, no doubt the technology of his helmet, much like Nightwing and Batwoman's masks. He had blocked his escrima stick with a knife. There was something intense about being in such close proximity. It was as though Nightwing was missing something about the whole confrontation.

"Batwoman is ruining your vans, Cobblepot. I would suggest focusing on her as your target. Nightwing is _mine_ ," Red Hood spoke. While his voice was altered due to a voice modulator, there was this almost dark kind tone to it. If Nightwing had to guess, it was almost gleeful followed by…pure hatred and rage.

At this point, the smoke was starting to clear. Multiple henchmen were collapsed on the ground unconscious from Nightwing and Batwoman's attack. Nightwing narrowed his eyes a little as he regarded Red Hood before pulling back a safe distance from the man that would allow him to assess him with a quick glance. He wore a black shirt that had a small multitude of armor on it. It wasn't anything extravagant, and seemed to be made from a durable fabric. Two gun holsters hung at his waist as well, though Red Hood twirled the knife in his hand before gripping it. By the way he stood, it was obvious that this guy wasn't going to be some kind of pushover. He knew what he was doing, and Nightwing didn't have time for a fight like that. He needed to keep Penguin busy long enough for Batwoman to take down the vans and destroy the shipments.

"After the pest, boys!" Cobblepot shouted, and then waddled quickly to the van on the right. From the sound of the ruckus coming from the other van, Nightwing assumed it was the one Batwoman was putting out of commission.

"Sorry, but I have more important matters to attend to," Nightwing spoke to Red Hood, pulling a wing-ding out and throwing it towards Penguin in only a few seconds. It started towards the villain, when it suddenly exploded into pieces, followed by a gunshot. Nightwing narrowed his eyes and looked back to Red Hood. He had drawn his gun extraordinarily fast, which was now pointed at him.

"Too bad. You're going to have to put me as your first priority," Red Hood said.

Nightwing grit his teeth before ducking and rolling to the side as the gun went off. This was bad. At this rate, if Penguin's henchmen kept Batwoman occupied enough, Penguin would get away with a van. Dick pulled a spare smoke bomb out and threw it to the ground, immediately shooting his line launcher by the van as the smoke came out. Just as he was about to zip off towards the van, something cut his line, and his arm was grabbed. Nightwing's eyes widened as he was thrown back roughly. He flew back before hitting against a wall, making his head snap against it. He remained standing, though his head burst out with pain. He gazed up as he saw Red Hood slowly walking out of the smoke as if he were made out of it.

"I told you. I'm your opponent, Nightwing. If I were you, I wouldn't take that fact very lightly," Red Hood stated lowly, then chuckled quietly, "You never do take things very seriously though, do you?"

Nightwing narrowed his eyes and straightened up, pulling his escrima sticks out and activating the electricity, "Oh, I wouldn't say that. I take plenty of things seriously. Like how I'm about to kick your ass."

Nightwing struck forwards in a blur, swinging his escrima sticks towards Red Hood lightning fast. However, one was block by the knife, and Red Hood caught his arm with his hand. Nightwing smirked a little, and then jumped up, kicked against Red Hood chest, causing his grip on his arm to loosen. He then used Red Hood as leverage to backflip away from him and landed in a ready stance, a small, humorless smile playing on his lips. Red Hood had a hand against his chest before a small laugh came from the hooded man.

"Still using your old tricks, huh, Grayson? Not that I'm surprised, but taking you out will probably be easier than I expected," Red Hood said, and Nightwing immediately frowned deeply and swallowed hard. How did Red Hood know who he was?

"Who are you?" Nightwing demanded, glancing to the van for a moment. Penguin was getting in, and Batwoman was just now sprinting over, probably having taken out the rest of the henchmen.

"Your worst nightmare," Red Hood spoke darkly, only to then pull his gun out and aim the shot at Batwoman.

Nightwing felt his heart skip a beat and he quickly bolted forwards, putting back one escrima stick and catching Red Hood's arm and shifting it right as he shot the bullet, making it miss Batwoman. However, Red Hood then landed a hard punch to the side of Nightwing's head, making him stumble to the side and split his lip, causing blood to trail from his bottom lip. His vision swam for a moment, but Nightwing wasted no time in twisting around just in time to catch Red Hood's wrist. The knife being held in his hand pricked against Nightwing's neck. A small smile traced his lips, and he tightened his grip on Hood's wrist before easily maneuvering himself away from the knife and behind Red Hood, taking his wrist with him, and bashed his head with his escrima stick.

A small grunt came from Red Hood at the contact, and the impact forced his body to the side, which allowed the shoulder of the arm Nightwing was holding to dislocate due to how far Nightwing had it pulled behind his back. He then kicked Red Hood hard in the back of the knees, letting go of his arm as he did, making the man fall to his knees and catch himself with his good arm. Red Hood didn't say anything, but kept his head a bit ducked. There was a small crack in the side of his helmet. Nightwing walked around, standing in front of him.

"Give it up, Red Hood. It's over," He said to the criminal lowly, tensing as he heard the sound of tires screeching from behind him. However, a dark laugh came from Red Hood, who slowly sat up and looked up at him. He moved his good hand to his shoulder, and Nightwing widened his eyes a little as he popped it back into place without a single wince or outward sign of pain.

"It's only just begun, Dick," Red Hood laughed, slowly getting to his feet, holding up a device in the hand that belonged to the arm of the once dislocated shoulder. He must have had it in his pocket, and grasped it when his shoulder had been dislocated. Nightwing lunged forward, only for his thumb to press down on the button. He heard an explosion along with a shout from Batwoman, followed by the impact of her hitting the ground.

 _*Jasmine!*_ Dick shouted in his head.

Immediately, Nightwing spun around on his heels, spotting Batwoman lying on the ground instantly, and sprinted over to her. His heart raced as he fell onto his knees in front of her, Red Hood quickly forgotten for a moment. Her back faced him, but he could see the rise and fall of her body, followed by a soft groan of pain. Relief immediately flooded through him. She was alive. Her cape and areas of her suit were in tatters, but if he had to guess, Red Hood's explosive devices had been placed on her cape, which ultimately saved her life. Not only that, but the devices must not have been too entirely fatal, but strong enough to take her off her feet. She rolled onto her stomach and slowly pushed herself up onto her hands and knees before looking over. The words asking if she was okay caught in Nightwing's throat and he followed her gaze, resting his eyes on Red Hood who stood there with his arms crossed. Why hadn't he shot them? He was going to regret his merciful choice soon. Slowly, Nightwing got to his feet, anger boiling inside of him. Now he was pissed.

"Batwoman. Are you able to stand?" Nightwing asked slowly, not taking his eyes off of Red Hood, who stared at him as well. He heard her get to her feet from behind him.

"Yes. I have a tracker on Penguin's van. We can still catch it. Let's go," She said immediately, though he could hear a small faintness to her voice. She was still recovering from the impact of the explosions. All the more reason to get her away from Red Hood. There was no way in hell he was going to let her get targeted by this guy. Besides, Red Hood was his, and Penguin needed to be stopped. She should be safer going after the van.

"You go after Penguin. I'll handle Red Hood," He said firmly, and felt her catch his arm.

" _Nightwing_ I can't just-" She began, and he looked to her fiercely, making her trail off, despite the fact that he couldn't see his eyes.

"I made you a promise. I'll be _fine._ Now _go_." He said strictly. Batwoman paused for a second, looked at Red Hood almost conflictingly, and then ran out to go after the van Penguin had taken.

"So. You do love her," Red Hood stated, uncrossing his arms and clenching his hands into tight fists.

"Shut up and fight," Nightwing said coldly, then attacked.

Adrenaline hummed through his body. He traded blows with Red Hood, who had his knife in his right hand. Nightwing, of course, was using both of his escrima sticks. While he was able to block or dodge Red Hood strikes, the crackling sound of his opponent getting hit by his escrima sticks and their electricity reached his ears. However, each hit was simply minor. Finally, Nightwing jammed the head of his escrima stick against Red Hood's chest as hard as he could, making his opponent stagger back, creating distance between the two.

"You always have fought better when you're pissed off," Red Hood said darkly, "You're fault is that you are much too cocky though."

"How do you know anything about me?" Nightwing asked sharply then began to attack again. This time, Red Hood did a better job of blocking his attacks, and Nightwing grit his teeth as he swiped his knife along his side pretty deeply, and then landed a punch to his jaw, sending Dick staggering sideways. He quickly rolled to the side and crouched on the ground facing Red Hood, knowing he had blocked a fatal stab from his opponent's knife. Blood welled in his mouth and he spat it out before rising to his feet. He watched as Red Hood spread his hands out.

"I'm thoroughly disappointed that you haven't figured it out yet, Dick. Jasmine was the same way," He snarled, lunging forwards just as fast as Nightwing which caught him off-guard, along with what he had said. How did he know…Jasmine?

Nightwing let out a pained shout as Red Hood sunk the knife into his shoulder then shoved him back roughly against the wall before ripping his mask off. He dropped it to the ground then stepped on it with is combat boots. Nightwing heard the snap of it beneath his feet. He grit his teeth and glared at him fiercely with his exposed, blue eyes, catching Red Hood's fist as it came towards his head by dropping his escrima sticks to the ground. He then ducked under Hood's arm and stepped to the side as his enemy swung his other, which made contact with the wall, putting a hole in it. Red Hood looked over before turning towards him. This was bad news. His escrima sticks were out of reach at the moment. Not that he couldn't fight hand-to hand though.

"I'll ask again. Who are you, and how do you know me and Jasmine?" Dick asked, glaring at Red Hood, who chuckled seemingly humorlessly.

"You'll figure it out eventually, Dick. For now, I'm simply enjoying beating the shit out of you," He smirked, dropping his knife to the ground. This time, it was Red Hood who struck forwards.

At first, Dick had to play on the defensive. He blocked or caught some of Red Hood's attacks. However, his enemy was much too fast for him to be able to land a successful counter attack. What really bothered Dick was the fact that Red Hood fought very similar to how he did. Not in the jumping around or anything, and while he was fast, he wasn't Dick fast. It was just the basic style. The thing is, Bruce taught Dick the basics of fighting. He had the whole flexibility part when he was a little kid, since he had been a trained acrobat, but not the whole fighting part. Of course, over the years, Dick has tampered with the basics to create his own kind of fighting style, but in the long run, it was based off the fundamentals that had been taught to him. Red Hood's fighting style seemed to be based off of the same fundamentals. As Red Hood let out a hard punch, Dick narrowly sidestepped it, giving him an opening, and then landed a punch to the already cracked part of Red Hood's helmet.

Now it was Dick's turn. He wasted no time attacking Red Hood, landing punches to his helmet, lengthening the crack, along with his stomach and the shoulder he dislocated earlier. He then swung his leg up, which Red Hood caught. Before Hood could throw him or anything, Dick used it as leverage and swung his other leg up, kicking Red Hood's helmet as hard as he could. Red Hood let go of his leg as he was thrown back against the wall, and Dick somersaulted in the air and landed in a crouch. Fragments of the red helmet had fallen onto the ground, and Dick stalked up, swinging his fist and landing a punch to the helmet once more, making another piece of the helmet drop. At this point, his enemy's pitch black hair, and the light tanned skin of his forehead was visible. A small corner of the eye had broken off, and the light was out, but it still covered his irises. There wasn't enough gone to make out his appearance.

"Now. Let's see who is behind the mask," Dick said, grabbing the edge of the helmet. However, right as he began to pull on it to expose who Red Hood really was, he felt something jab into his neck.

Shocked at the sudden pain, Dick froze in his actions, only for his vision to blur for a moment. He staggered back from Red Hood, placing his hand to his neck. His mind began to become clouded, and he fell onto his knees, catching himself with one hand. Dick's eyes kept focusing and then blurring. His mind kept getting cloudier and cloudier. Slowly, he looked up, trying to make sense of everything. His mind…it wasn't working. He saw Red Hood walking over to him, letting a syringe drop from his hand and shatter on the ground.

 _The…the drug…did he inject me with…_ Dick thought slowly, but the words were whisked away before he could finish it. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight back against the drug.

 _Jasmine. I promised her. I promised her that I…what did I promise? …I can't die. That's it. I can't die. I can't let this overpower me. Red Hood can't gain control of me. Just think of last night. Her soft sighs, the lingering kisses…_ Dick then felt fingers twining into his hair then pulling on them, forcing his head up. Groggily, his eyes peered open, landing on Red Hood.

"You listen to _my_ orders now, Dick," He spoke slowly.

A settling, peaceful feeling of calm came over Dick, and all of his thoughts stopped. His whole mind became completely blank. In fact, he couldn't even recall what he had been thinking about before. All that filled it was a sense of happiness. He was glad to take Red Hood's orders. Why wouldn't he? Red Hood gave him the drug that was making him feel so euphoric. That meant he could give him more.

"Now stand up."

Dick stood without hesitation, his blue eyes dull and expressionless, but fixed on Red Hood, waiting for his next command.

"Let's go find Jasmine. You're going to kill her."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Batwoman scaled over rooftops and swung through the air using her batclaw, following the tracker she had placed on Penguin's van. It seemed that he was heading towards Bludhaven. In a way, she supposed that it made sense. One van had been for Gotham, and the other was for Bludhaven. With one destroyed, Penguin had to make a choice on which city he wanted to take control of. With basically all of his men taken down at the moment, and his plans exposed, she supposed that Bludhaven would have the higher success rate. He probably figured that Batman already knew about everything, making Gotham a lost cause.

While taking the motorcycle might sound faster, Batwoman didn't want the do a high speed chase, or catch the attention of a lot of police. That would simply complicate matters. Not only that, but she didn't want to place people who were out driving in danger. Besides, she could use shortcuts to keep up with the van, though she knew that they wouldn't last forever. Batwoman needed to take down the van before it got out of Gotham.

Even though she was going rather fast, it wasn't as fast as Batwoman would usually go. She was still a little dazed after the explosions went off on her cape. She hadn't expected it to happen, and honestly, had no idea when Red Hood had planted them on her. Her body wasn't in terrible pain or anything. At least, she didn't think so, but then again, her pain tolerance was much too high for her to really notice. Slowly but surely, however, she was recovering from it.

Though she knew that the right action was to go after Penguin, Batwoman was still extremely worried about Nightwing. The night definitely hadn't gone how they planned. At all. The fact that he needed to stay behind and fight Red Hood was concerning. She knew that he was good, since the two of them had sparred very briefly, but good enough to make him so much of a threat that Nightwing needed to stay behind to take him out? That wasn't what she was expecting. At this point, she could only hope that Nightwing would win the fight then join her later that evening. While she would prefer to be fighting beside him, he had been right in sending her off. Their first priority was stopping the drug distribution and destroying it before anyone on the streets used it.

Batwoman came to a stop at the edge of a building before looking down at the tracker. If it was correct, Penguin's van would be passing in just a few moments. That would give her the chance to take it out. If she missed, then it would be really hard to catch the damn thing again. Thankfully, Penguin was using back roads, probably thinking that it would be faster than going on the main streets. However, this was going to be what took him down, since it was a lot easier for Batwoman to take out the van in this case. Sure enough, two headlights illuminated down the street, followed by the roar of an engine speeding down it. Batwoman braced herself to jump down and land on the back of the car…only for the sound of gunshots to ring out, followed by the sound of a blown tire. Batwoman's eyes widened in surprise as the tires squealed before the van drifted to the side, hitting against the brick wall then turning until it blocked the entire street. As it came to a stop, men rushed it, all of them wearing red armbands. Red Hood's gang.

Confusion swept over Batwoman for a moment. Why was Red Hood's gang stopping Penguin's van? They were working together after all. However, she didn't have any time to consider that at the moment. Right now, she needed to save the fat, bird-loving, gangster before Red Hood's men murdered him. Uncoiling her whips, she jumped down, landing behind the gang, who was marching up to the driver's side door of the van.

"Thanks for stopping the van for me, but this is as far as you go." She spoke up, making the five armed henchmen spin around and aim their guns at her. That was when she spotted the man who had told her and Nightwing where the drugs were the night before. She narrowed her eyes and scowled.

"I thought you said you left Red Hood's gang," She spoke coldly, and the man smirked.

"I lied. Lucky for you, Batwoman, that we have orders not to kill you."

 _Orders not to kill me? Why?_ Batwoman thought to herself before smirking, "As if the five of you could actually kill me. Now. Step away from the van. Penguin and his drug shipment is mine," She said sharply.

"Not going to happen, Batwoman. We may not have orders to kill you, but we sure as hell have orders to kill the fat oaf," He grinned in a sickening gleeful kind of way. One of Red Hood's men then opened the van door and dragged out Penguin, who yelled out in protest and struggled against the man's grip.

"Well, then I guess this will be rather easy," Batwoman spoke before lashing her whips out lightning fast. They struck forward, wrapping around the gun of the man who held Penguin and the gun of another henchmen. She ripped them from their hands and they flung back, clattering behind her.

Immediately, three men rushed her, and the other two went to Penguin. Right now, she needed to focus on saving Penguin. Easily, Batwoman dodged the men's attacks and ducked under them before rushing at the two men who had Penguin at gunpoint. She rammed into the man who had the nozzle of his gun aimed at the gangster, and the shot went off, hitting the wall. Swiftly, she rammed her elbow into the side of his head, and then lashed a whip out. It wrapped around the other man's gun and tugged it from his hands before he could shoot. In only a few seconds after, her second whip struck forwards and bashed against the side of the man's head, making him crumple to the ground.

"Would you hurry up and take them out?" Penguin snapped at her, crawling backwards to the car as she stood in front of him and the attackers.

"Just be grateful I'm taking them out at all," Batwoman growled at him, watching as the remaining three retrieved the two guns she had thrown down the street earlier and raised them towards her.

Batwoman coiled one of her whips and set it at her waist. With her free hand, she grabbed three batarangs and quickly threw them before rolling to the side as bullets bounced around the spot she had been standing in. A small cry from Penguin told her he had been shot, but from the string of curses that followed, she figured that it hadn't been fatal. The batarangs, of course, found their mark: the nozzles of the guns that were being fired. Two guns exploded, since the men using them had kept their fingers pressed on the trigger. They both shouted and staggered back, dropping the ruined weapons. The leader of the five, however, simply let his drop to the ground since it was now useless, and glared at Batwoman.

"This fight is over," Batwoman spoke, before running towards them.

The men raised their fists and got ready, but she wasn't planning on hand-to-hand combat. Her other hand pulled out her other whip once again, uncoiling it immediately, then lashed forward with both, twisting the bands as they went towards her enemies in a blur. One wrapped around a man's wrist, and the other slashed across the other two's chest, making them cry out as the sharp blades cut into their skin, making them stagger back. The man who was caught got pulled towards her roughly, and Batwoman slammed her elbow into his head, making him crumple to the ground. That left two more.

Batwoman twisted the band of the whip that was wrapped around the unconscious man's wrist, dislodging the blades that had shredded it, and pulled her whip back by her side. The two remaining men stared at her, their teeth gritted and their blood seeping between their fingers from their hands resting on the deep cuts they had on their chest. She could see the defeat in their eyes. They knew that they had no chance against her. She smirked at them before twisting the band of the other whip, making the blades lie flat and return to their scale-like look. She stalked towards them, making the two back up a little, but of course, the action was futile. Then, she burst into action, spinning on her heels for her whips to gain momentum, and then lashed them out towards the two. The whips bashed against their heads, and they fell over each other on the ground, unconscious.

Rolling her shoulders, Batwoman recoiled her whips then marched over to Penguin, who was trying to crawl away. From the looks of it, he had been shot in the leg, which was just good luck for her, or he would have gotten away. Attaching her whips to her waist, she then pulled out her batclaw and shot it at Penguin. It wrapped around his legs, and she pulled, making him fall to the ground with a loud "oof."

"Thought I forgot about you, Cobblepot?" She asked with a small smile as she glanced at him. He scowled at her.

"Hardly," He spat.

Batwoman didn't respond, but simply walk to the van and climbed in through the driver's seat. The back was blocked by the brick wall, so there was no way she could get to the drugs from there. She climbed back, spotting the crates that held the drugs. Smiling humorlessly, she pulled the top off just to check. Sure enough, the vibrant blue liquid was exposed. Returning the top of the crate to its place, she pulled out explosive gel and put some on each one of the crates. The explosion caused by the gel along with the car would definitely destroy the substance, and the mission would be completed. Batwoman climbed back out and grabbed Penguin by the collar of his shirt, dragging him away from the van and turned the corner of the street so the debris from the car wouldn't hit him. She threw him down, and then brought the five unconscious men over as well.

"What do you think you're doing?! Release me, you little pest of a-!" He began to say loudly, but cut off abruptly as Batwoman pressed the switch, making the explosive gel go off. The car exploded in a fiery inferno. Some of the cars parts flew this way and that. After a few moments, Batwoman peered over at it. Nothing but the shell of the still flaming car remained. Almost immediately, sirens rang out, and steadily got closer.

While Penguin shouted and cursed at her, Batwoman quietly leaned back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed. She simply tuned out his annoying exclamations as she waited for the GCPD to make their appearance. Thankfully, it didn't take too long. The sound of cars coming to a halt reached her ears, followed by voices over a radio and the officers speaking back to them. Batwoman didn't open her eyes until she heard the scraping of boots on the ground coming towards her and the criminals she snagged.

"Batwoman. What's the meaning of this?" Gordon spoke, glancing at the flaming van, the unconscious men, Penguin and then back to her.

"Penguin was creating a drug meant to take over the temporal lobe of the user's brain and alter their dependency on not only the drug, but the giver of the drug. He was going to enslave the minds of the civilians in both Gotham and Bludhaven. While Penguin is the face behind the whole thing, the one really pulling the strings is Red Hood. The van was full of the drug, so I destroyed it and the shipment. If any has been distributed, there is already a cure that will help users get over the effects of the drug. I can send you a sample if you wish. What confuses me at the moment is the fact that Red Hood's men had orders to kill Penguin. If I learn anything about it, I'll let you know, Commissioner," Batwoman spoke levelly, pushing off from the wall as police officers put Penguin in handcuffs and put the unconscious men into custody as well.

"My God. Well, I suppose there isn't anything I should be mad about this time, Batwoman. The men didn't seem to be on the verge of death. I guess the only thing I can say is thank you," He said, holding his hand out to her. Batwoman stared at him for a moment, sighing softly before giving a small smile.

"Nightwing is the one who deserves the thanks, Commissioner," Batwoman said before taking his hand momentarily.

A police officer then comes up to Gordon, and he turns away for a moment. Batwoman takes her batclaw out then shoots it, silently shooting up to a roof and crouching on it. She watched as Gordon turned back to where she had been before shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. Then, the police took off with Penguin and Red Hood's goons. The van would probably be taken care of later.

Slowly, Batwoman rose up to her feet and stretched her arms over her head, relief flooding for her for a moment. The mission was completed. Penguin and Red Hood's plan was stopped, though she had a feeling that Red Hood had a more devious plan. Killing Penguin? Why? That was the real question. Penguin was the one paying him for his ideas. He wanted revenge on Nightwing and Batman for whatever reason. So why would he stop Budhaven from getting taken over? It didn't make any sense. Still, now she needed to check on Nightwing and make sure he was okay. She didn't expect him to take this long in returning. It definitely made her nervous. Quickly, she turned on her communication device to contact Nightwing.

"Penguin has been stopped, and he's in custody. Is everything alright on your end?" She spoke, then waited.

"Everything is fine. Stay where you are. I'm on my way." A response finally came through. Batwoman smiled widely hearing his voice, but it slowly disappeared. Something wasn't…right. He wasn't usually that short or emotionless when he spoke to her.

"Are you sure?" Batwoman spoke, waiting for his response.

However, it didn't come. Instead, she saw Nightwing appear across the building, standing on the opposite end. A small gust of wind swept over the roof of the building, shifting her hair and cape to the side and ruffling his pitch black hair from his shadowed eyes. He had multiple tears in his suit and was missing his mask. He also seemed to be bleeding in some areas, but other than that, looked fine. She couldn't deny the overwhelming joy in seeing him. A smile came over her, and she began to jog over. Nightwing stepped down from the ledge, but made no motion to come towards her. What really made her slow and pause in her steps, however, was seeing his blue-gray eyes. There didn't seem to be a shred of that bright, comical, expressive light in them that she has come to love so much.

"Dick?" She breathed quietly, standing just a few feet away from him. He was silent, hardly reacting to her voice.

"He won't listen to you, Jasmine."

Batwomen whirled around as the voice came out from behind her. She narrowed her eyes as Red Hood came into her sight. His mask was cracked and missing pieces. She could see midnight black hair and lightly tanned skin. However, the crack ended at the burned out light of the mask's left eye. His profile was still a mystery, and the voice modulator was still functioning. His arms were crossed over his chest as he stood.

"What did you do to him?" Batwoman spoke lowly, feeling rage building up within her. Her hands immediately rested on the hilts of her whips.

"I'm sure you can figure it out," Red Hood spoke in what seemed to be amusement. He shifted his attention to Dick. Batwoman was about to attack Red Hood in his mistake of turning his attention away from her.

"Take her down."

Just as Batwoman was about to strike forward, her arm was caught harshly, and she was thrown to the ground. Surprise filtered through her, but she quickly recovered, rolling to the side as Dick punched right where she had been. His punch was enough to crack the ground a little from the impact. Slowly, his eyes shifted to her as she got to her feet warily. However, she was looking at his neck where there was a small wound. It all made sense then. Red Hood injected Dick with the drug, and now he was under his complete control. This wasn't a good situation. Jasmine glanced at Red Hood for a moment, expecting to see a gun pointed at her. However, he was simply standing there with his arms crossed.

"You bastard," She spat, but didn't get much time to say anything else since Dick then took out his escrima sticks, activated the electricity, and charged her.

Batwoman grit her teeth, narrowly dodging the blurred attacks. They never have fought each other at their full capacity before. She always wanted to, but never like this. Still, she couldn't deny a small thrill rushing through her veins as she dodged and blocked his attacks. The very feeling of it sickened her, but it was there nonetheless. It was hard to come across opponents that actually made her try. That allowed her to fight to her full ability. It would be nice to finally be able to, but the cause of the fight was less than agreeable. She hated the thrill that went through her for this fight. It reminded her that a part of her was still what her father had tried to make her into. A weapon.

"Dick…stop this," Batwoman breathed out, catching his left hand as he swung it. The escrima stick was held just few inches from her face. She then caught his right hand, stopping the escrima stick once again from hitting her face. "This isn't you."

Batwoman speaking didn't seem to have much of an effect, however, and Dick simply kneed her in the stomach, making her hold loosen on his wrists. He then bashed the side of her head with one of his escrima sticks, making her gasp out as the electricity shocked through her temple, down her spine and her entire body, followed by her collapsing to the ground. Instantly, more hits followed by electricity started to erupt around her body. She grit her teeth as she took the beating, forcing her body to roll over and lashed her foot out, landing the kick to Dick's side. It was enough to make him stagger to the side. Batwoman didn't waste any time getting to her feet and pulling her whips out, uncoiling them with a loud crack against the ground as she did.

"Don't make me do this, Dick," She said in a pained voice.

"I told you, Jasmine. He won't listen to you," Red Hood called just as Dick threw a wing-ding at her.

In response, Batwoman lashed one whip out, intercepting the wing-ding and making it fly off course, only for her eyes to widen and spring back. Dick used it as a distraction then rushed at her. She had almost successfully dodged his attack, but one of his escrima sticks caught her mask, throwing it off and exposing her face for all to see. Gritting her teeth, she then lashed out a whip, making it wrap around his left wrist.

 _Sorry, Dick_. Jasmine thought to herself, then twisted the band, making the blades dig into his wrist.

As she pulled her spiked whip back, shredding the skin and muscles of his wrist, he cried out and dropped the escrima stick he had been holding in that hand. Then, she lashed out the other one to take out his right hand, but it wrapped around the escrima stick instead. She could work with that. Jasmine pulled it back, launching it across the roof. Now he didn't have a weapon. This put her at an advantage, even though she hated having to hurt his wrist as she had.

Twisting the band on her spiked whip to make the blades lie flat once again, Jasmine then sent out strings of lashes. Dick narrowly dodged them, using his speed and flexibility. His hurt wrist didn't even seem to be slowing him down. Slowly, he was making his way towards her, which was intimidating in itself. It seemed to her that he has studied her movements well. Well enough to be able to know a pattern and block them. Still, she was better off with her whips than without them. Sparks flew from where the metal of her whips hit the ground of the roof. She watched Dick's movements carefully, waiting for an opening. Quickly, she lashed one whip level with his neck, and released the other one a few seconds later at his feet. This time, she got somewhere. Like she expected, he ducked to dodge the one overhead, but the other wrapped around right his leg. Immediately, she twisted the band so the blades would hold the whip in place. Then, she tugged roughly, making him give a small shout of pain as his leg was pulled out from under him. Jasmine then used her other one, wrapping it around his right arm. It coiled around his bicep, and, once again, Jasmine twisted the band, making the blades lodge into his arm and hold it in place.

Jasmine smiled thinly and humorlessly. This fight would be over in a few moments. She began to sprint towards him, only to jump and twist in the air, twisting his limbs along with her whips. As she landed right behind him, she pulled the whip from his leg back then placed her foot on his back, forcing him against the ground, and pulled up on the whip wrapped around his arm, which was now across his chest and locking his free arm to his body as well. Just as she was about to slam the end of her free whip against his head to knock him out, he rolled to the right, unwrapping the arm that was being held by the whip. Then Dick shot his hand out and grabbed her wrist. Jasmine's eyes widened as he pulled her towards him, then move his leg up, ramming her stomach into his foot. She gasped loudly as the air was knocked out of her, only for Dick to let go of her wrist then push her back forcefully with the leg she was practically doubled over, throwing her to the ground.

Jasmine landed on her back, letting out a cough as she hit the ground. She dropped one of her whips from his foot ramming into her stomach. Her other was clutched lightly in her hand. However, that didn't last long. Just as she was about to get up, Dick's fist connected with her cheek, throwing her back against the ground, making her head snap back against it. Her vision spun, and she was aware of her whip being kicked out from her hand. She let out another cough before turning her head, raising her hand and catching Dick's hand as another punch came towards her face. His fist was slick with his blood, telling her it was the hand connected to the wrist she had shredded with her whip. His other hand curled into a fist and he landed it to her already beat up stomach. Blood welled in her mouth, and she coughed it out and arched her back from the blow.

Dick then grabbed Jasmine's hair and forced her up until her eyes were level with his. He then grabbed her throat and started to tighten his grip, blocking off her air supply. Jasmine stared into his eyes, searching desperately for any sign of the man she loved being in their depths. Nothing. His beautiful blue-gray eyes were emotionless. Since he pulled her up, she had a small chance of getting out. If it didn't work, then she was dead. Quickly, Jasmine kneed his groin, making him groan out in pain and drop her. She sucked in desperately to fill her lungs before shuffling back and slowly getting to her feet. Lazily, she swiped her hand over her mouth where blood was trailing from and watched as Dick slowly straightened up as well.

Dick was covered in blood from her whips. It came from his left leg, right arm and left wrist. However, he seemed to be ignoring his pain rather well. Her stomach hurt like a bitch, and a dull throb was starting at her cheek where he had punched her. Like earlier, it was a little hard to focus once again, since her head had hit against the ground pretty damn hard. Her pain tolerance was starting to lower a little, which was never good. It she had to guess, she never completely recovered from that explosion from earlier. Dick then moved towards her, and she let out a small breath of air. It was like the fight would never end. Still, she steeled her blue-green eyes. She couldn't lose this fight. If she did, then Red Hood would have Dick under his thumb for who knows how long. Her eyes shifted to Red Hood just for a second. He was still standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. However, he seemed to be looking at the ground rather than the fight, which came off as odd to Jasmine. She didn't have long to contemplate this until Dick was upon her once again.

Jasmine dodged his punches, and then came forward with her own. However, her punches weren't executed as well as they usually were, and he grabbed her arm and threw her to the side. She hit the ground and rolled a few times. Jasmine grit her teeth and slowly started to lift herself up, watching Dick out of the corner of her eyes. As he came upon her, Jasmine lashed one of her legs out, kicking him in the knee. He made a small grunt of pain and his knee gave out. Now it was her turn to change the tide of the battle.

Jasmine quickly sat up, landing a punch to his jaw. It forced him to the side, though he remained in a crouching position. It gave her the time she needed to get to her feet. She then threw a punch to the side of his head, going for the knockout. This fight needed to end quickly. To her surprise, however, he caught it and slowly met her eyes. The cold depths of them made her shudder for a moment, only for his other arm to grab her left bicep then force her back down to the ground. He then twisted her arm back and she heard him get to his feet. Then, in one swift motion, he stomped down on her back while pulling on her arm, dislocating her shoulder. With her already lowered pain tolerance, Jasmine cried out, and he dropped her now pretty much useless arm before landing a kick to her side, forcing her to roll onto her back. Jasmine could hardly react before he leaned over her, grabbing her good wrist and holding it above her head. His knees rested to her sides, but his legs were crossed over hers, making them useless. He had won. Dick looked to Red Hood, as though awaiting orders, and Jasmine followed his gaze. Red Hood the pulled out one of his guns.

"Now kill her," He said lowly tossing the gun to Dick. Dick caught it easily, and in one quick motion, cocked the gun and pressed it against her forehead.

Jasmine swallowed hard and gazed up at him. This wasn't the man she loved. The drug stole him away from her. He was going to do it. She was going to die. Jasmine shut her eyes, waiting for the shot, and ultimately, death. However, instead she felt a small shake in the nozzle of the gun. Jasmine slowly peered her eyes open and stared at Dick. There was a conflict in his eyes, and the gun that was pressed against her forehead was shaking. He was fighting against the influence of the drug. Jasmine forgot…the victim could fight against it if the one giving the orders was trying to make them do something they were completely against. Dick Grayson didn't kill.

"I said, kill her!" Red Hood spoke, sounding a smidge annoyed. However, this only seemed to deepen the conflict. Immediately, Jasmine recognized that this may be her only chance.

"Dick. This isn't you. You are _not_ a killer. You are better than the criminals you fight against, and I love you, Dick Grayson. Don't do this. You can fight against the drug, because you are the strongest person I know," She said to him, looking into his eyes as she said it.

"I said to _kill her damnit_ , _"_ Red Hood shouted. Dick's breathes came out sharply and quickly, and the gun pressed harder against her temple. Jasmine took a deep breath and then slowly reached up with her good hand and rested it against his arm, slowly trailing it up to his cheek.

"Stop, Dick. It's me. Jasmine. You don't want to kill me. Fight it, for me," She whispered to him.

The conflict in Dick's eyes slowly began to fade a little, and the gun slipped out of his hand, clattering to the ground beside her head. Jasmine slowly leaned up and pressed her lips to his. At first, he didn't kiss her back, but slowly began to. Jasmine lowered her hand from Dick's cheek and slowly moved it down to the gun, wrapping her had around it. She pulled back from the lips a little.

"I'm sorry," Jasmine whispered, then bashed Red Hood's gun against his head.

Dick rolled off of her from the impact, his eyes fluttering closed. Jasmine leaned back, staring up at the sky with shaky breaths. Slowly, she looked over at Dick, who was lying motionless beside her except for the rise and fall of his chest. He was knocked out. Good. The sound of footfalls coming towards her then caught her attention, and Jasmine closed her eyes. _You've got to be kidding me…_

"You going to kill me now that I'm basically defeated?" She spoke, looking over at Red Hood. He was crouching beside her, his hands resting on his knees as he balanced on the balls of his feet.

"No," He stated, reaching down and grabbing the gun from her hand before pushing it into one of the holsters at his waist. Jasmine narrowed her eyes and stared at him.

"Why? This whole fight was to kill me! What was the point of this if you don't even-" She began to say harshly, but stopped abruptly as Red Hood pressed a gloved finger to her lips.

"We'll meet again, Jasmine Quinn, and then everything will be made clear. Until next time," Red Hood spoke lowly, rising to his feet. He gave a small, sarcastic salute and then ran off, disappearing off of the roof as he jumped off the side.

Jasmine stared after him, shaking her head in confusion. Why didn't he just take her then? What was the whole point of this? Slowly, she began to sit up, wincing at the pain that rippled through her body, especially her dislocated shoulder. Reaching over, she rested her hand on her injured shoulder then grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. Then, she shoved it back into place, crying out and leaning over at the pain that came with it. She breathed heavily before using her communication device, contacting Alfred.

"Alfred…the Batwing. Can you send it to my location with the cure of the drug Nightwing and I found?" She asked in a hoarse voice.

"Of course. It is being sent right away. Are you alright, Madam Jasmine?" The butler instantly responded.

"Ran into Red Hood. He injected Nightwing with the drug, and made him fight me. It's a bit of a mess over here," She explained.

"My God…I'm sending Master Tim and Master Bruce as well. Hang in there, madam," Alfred spoke sharply before disconnecting.

Jasmine would have argued that she didn't need Tim's help, but Alfred disconnected much too early. Besides, she simply didn't have the motivation to argue. Slowly, Jasmine got to her feet and staggered across the roof to grab her whips. She coiled them and attached them back to her waist. Her and Dick's blood littered the top of the roof. She stumbled around, grabbing Dick's escrima sticks as well as her mask. By the time she got her mask, the Batwing lowered itself onto the roof. Robin and Batman jumped out the instant it landed. Tim sprinted over to Dick, holding a syringe of the cure. She watched him crouch down and inject it into Dick's neck. Batman walked towards her, and as Jasmine took a step forward, her knees gave out and Batman caught her, easily picking her up in his arms.

"Let's get back to the Batcave, Robin. Can you get Nightwing?" He asked gruffly. Jasmine followed his gaze. Robin was holding Dick up by having his arm slung over his shoulder.

"Yeah," Robin nodded to him. Batman gave a small incline of his head before carrying Jasmine over to the Batwing, gently setting her into it. Jasmine leaned back against the seat, watching as he helped Robin place Dick into the seat next to her. He then pressed a few buttons in the Batwing, placing it in autopilot.

"This will take you back to the Batcave. Robin and I will be driving back in the Batmobile. We'll see you soon," He said to Jasmine firmly, then moved back as the top of the Batwing closed. Instantly, the machine lifted off and headed off to the Batcave. Jasmine's eyes began to feel heavy, and she looked one last time at Dick. Slowly, she reached over and brushed the hair back from his closed eyes.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered, as though he could actually hear her. Then, she lowered her hand and allowed her eyes to close, allowing the relief of knowing that Dick would be okay lull her to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It had been almost a week since Jasmine has seen Dick Grayson. To be fair, Bruce had told her that he was going to keep Dick under surveillance until he was sure that the drug was completely gone from his system, and he wasn't a threat to himself, or her. While Bruce kept information regarding him rather short and straight-forward, Tim gave her details. According to Tim, when Dick woke up, he had been almost delirious, saying that he had to kill her. Bruce had to restrain him at first, and once he calmed down, was able to try and talk him through what happened. He didn't listen, and kept repeating that he had to so he could get the euphoria he had received from the drug. That he would die if he didn't get another dose, which told Jasmine that they had been right in assuming this drug was highly addictive. Bruce had put him under sedation and injected him once again with another dose of the cure. Well, anti-drug.

The second day, apparently, had been much better. Dick had been calmer, and much more somber. Tim told her that he had been more aware of what happened, and that he had felt so crushingly guilty and devastated about the entire thing. Getting his thoughts together seemed to have been hard for him at times, and Tim said he spaced out constantly, just staring at the wall blankly before returning back to his original self. The drug had still been affecting him, but not to a point where he was delirious.

After that, Tim stated that Dick's recovery quickly progressed. However, Tim also said that Dick refused to speak about her, and if he did, he only spoke to Bruce about it. He had been released from one of the cells in the Batcave two days ago. For all Jasmine knew, he never came to see her, and he sure as hell didn't try to get in contact with her. She tried calling him, and knocking on his door. Once, she simply walked into his room. However, he was nowhere to be found. At least, it seemed that way. She knew for certain that he was still in Gotham, since she would ask Tim and Alfred about him constantly. He just seemed to be very good at avoiding her.

Jasmine herself had recovered well from her numerous injuries. Alfred had forced her to wear a sling on her left arm because of her shoulder, but that hadn't lasted very long. Jasmine hated making her injuries a big deal and they hardly hurt now since her pain tolerance returned as well. The bruises on her stomach were beginning to fade, and the one on her cheek was mostly gone. The bruises on her neck from where Dick had almost strangled her were still there, but they weren't extremely apparent or anything. In fact, only after a few days of being treated, she returned as Batwoman out on the streets. There weren't any major crimes happening at the moment, so the nights were relaxed for Gotham. She visited Bludhaven not too long ago to check up on it and stop a few criminals here and there as well. What really bugged her, however, was Red Hood. He was still out there, and from what he said, planned on speaking with her again. At the moment though, he hadn't made any appearance.

Jasmine knew full well that this whole thing hadn't been Dick's fault. She held no sense of fear or negative feelings towards him. All she wanted to do was see him, and make sure _he_ was okay. He needed to know that this wasn't his fault. It all rested on Red Hood, and the drug that took over his mind. Now that a week had passed, she figured that it was about time the two of them spoke about it. Surely he didn't want to just avoid her…right? At least, Jasmine hoped that wasn't the case. They had just gotten back together, and she'd hate for this to tear them apart. Again. The hard part was that Jasmine had no idea where to find Dick at this point. During the two days, she has tried his room, the kitchen, the Batcave…everywhere. At the moment, it was evening. Already, she had her Batwoman suit on, with her mask dangling from her hand. She was just leaving his room. Already she had checked the kitchen, and now she was on her way to the Batcave, hoping to catch him training. As she walked towards the hidden elevator that would take her down to the Batcave, it sudden came up, and Tim stepped out, who stared at her for a moment before smiling almost nervously.

"Oh, hey Jasmine." He said, stepping out. Jasmine studied him for a moment before nodding in a way of greeting.

"Hey Tim. Is Dick down there?" She asked. The boy shifted his eyes a little to the side before answering.

"Nope. He's not down there," He stated before meeting her eyes. Jasmine sighed and shook her head, walking past him.

"You're a terrible liar."

"Jasmine! I mean…maybe you shouldn't see him just yet." He said, catching her arm. Jasmine was quiet for a moment before glancing at him from over her shoulder.

"Why not? You and Bruce both told me he was released, and if that's true, then he isn't a danger to me or to himself," She said strictly, and Tim swallowed hard, though he did let go of her arm.

"I don't think he wants to see you right now, Jasmine," He responded in a quiet voice. Jasmine winced and lowered her eyes.

"I guess I'll just have to find that out then," She murmured, and then stepped into the elevator. Tim stood outside of it as the doors closed behind her, and she stood still as it descended into the cave.

Did Dick really not want to see her? Jasmine supposed that it made sense, if he remembered everything that happened. Still, avoiding the subject wasn't going to help anything. The only way to move forward was to talk through it, and put it behind them. That's all that they could really do. If he kept fretting about it, then he was going to end up like she had been. Isolated, cold, self-hating and depressed. There was no way Jasmine was going to let him succumb to a life like that as she had.

As the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Jasmine stepped out. The sound of a punching bag getting pummeled immediately caught her attention, and she shifted her eyes over. There he was. After a week of being unable to see him, she couldn't help but study Dick and his characteristics for just a moment. He was wearing typical workout clothes. His light tanned skin was shining with sweat from the exertion of his workout. A few strands of his longish black hair were curved out while the majority was plastered to his temples and the back of his neck. The wrist her whip had shredded was wrapped, probably still healing. His bicep and leg were also wrapped from where her whip had dug into his skin. Dick's teeth seemed to be gritted and his blue-gray eyes narrowed. As she took a step forward, he landed one more hard punch to the punching bag, making it swing back, and then glanced over at her, holding out his hand to stop the punching bag from hitting him as it came back. His eyes were unreadable for a moment as they rested on her before narrowing, and he turned back and began punching the poor bag once more. Jasmine swallowed hard before taking a deep breath and walked over, though she kept a small distance from him and the punching bag.

"What did that poor innocent punching bag do to you?" Jasmine teased him lightheartedly, offering a light smile to try and lift the mood. She noticed Dick's eyes shift to her for a moment before he simply scowled a little then landed a harder punch to the punching bag. Jasmine's smile faltered at this.

"I was just-"

"I know." He said shortly, cutting her off as she spoke.

"Dick-" She breathed out quietly, but was once again cut off.

"You shouldn't be around me," He said sharply, landing one last hard punch then turned his back to her and stalked away. He didn't go very far, however. Just to a pole where he drew off a white towel and drew it over his face and the back of his neck.

"Why not? You're my boyfriend, Dick. I _want_ to be around you," She spoke to him gently, walking towards him a little tentatively.

Dick let out a short, humorless, laugh and looked at her from over his shoulder, his blue-gray eyes blazing, "Yeah? Well you shouldn't want to be."

"It wasn't your fault, Dick."

"Like _hell_ it was!" He shouted before closing his eyes and pressing his hand against his eyes. She heard him take a shaky inhalation of breath before turning his body completely towards her. He drew his hand down; finally seeming to actually look at her for the first time she came down there. She watched as guilt, pain and self-hatred filled his eyes.

"You were drugged, Dick. It altered your thought process, and made you completely susceptible to Red Hood's orders. You didn't do this. Hood and his damn drug did. You were his _victim_." She explained to him firmly. Dick squeezed his eyes shut as her words before slowly shaking his head.

"I would have killed you."

"But you didn't."

"That's not the point, Jasmine!" He burst out, looking at her again. He gazed at her for a moment before warily walking towards her. Jasmine stayed in place, catching her breath as he lightly tilted her chin up then moved his hand gently to her neck. She felt his fingers pulling down the tight fabric that lightly covered the skin along her neck. As the bruises were exposed, she heard him take in a sharp inhale of breath followed by his thumbs lightly brushing across her skin. Dick then drew his hand to her cheek, running his thumb lightly along the fading bruise.

"And your stomach?" He asked in a low, hoarse voice. Jasmine frowned and reached up, gently moving his hand from her cheek.

"Stop feeding your guilt."

"Look at what I did to you, Jasmine." Dick said painfully, pulling his hand from hers and looking away, "You should stay away from me. I've caused you enough damage as it is."

"Don't do this to me, Dick! I am _not_ letting you disappear from my life again!" Jasmine said strongly, walking up to him in a few, short strides and rested her hand on his cheek. She turned his face to hers and gazed into his eyes, "This isn't your fault. This is all on Red Hood and his drug. You aren't the one to blame for my injuries. The only reason I'm not dead is because of your willpower at the end. _You_ were able to fight against the drug and stop yourself from pulling the trigger. Not me. This guilt you feel? It's misplaced, Dick. You had no control over what you did," She spoke to him softly.

"I was aware, Jasmine. I was happy to beat the living shit out of you with the simple idea that Red Hood would give me another dose. If I'm so fucking strong, then why didn't I pull out of it earlier? Tell me that," He spoke to her lowly.

"That was the drug altering your thought process. It made you feel euphoric to take orders, and made you think that you needed Red Hood and more of the drug. The two of us fighting isn't anything new to you. Sparring is a normal part of this vigilante thing. In your drug-induced mind, it didn't make the connection. What snapped you out of it was killing me, because you don't kill, and I'm sure you've never even considered killing me," Jasmine explained to him levelly.

Dick stared at her with an unreadable gaze for a moment before pulling away, "You're right. I've never considered killing you. At least, I hadn't until a week ago. I almost pulled that trigger, Jasmine," He whispered.

"Dick, we've been through this. That wasn't you," Jasmine said softly, walking up to him and took his hand into hers, "Come with me into Gotham tonight. It'll be a simple night. Nothing crazy is happening," She offered to him hopefully. He looked to her, his eyes poignant, and drew his hand away from hers.

"I can't, Jasmine. I'm terrified that this drug's effects will come back and I'll…kill you. I couldn't live with myself if that happened. I just…I need time, Jasmine. I need time to process everything that happened. Everything I did to you. Alone," Dick said to her sorrowfully, but also strictly, walking past her and towards the punching bag again, "Please…just leave."

Jasmine stared at him, watching as he began to land punches to the punching bag like earlier. Her lips were parted, and the words she wanted to say were struck in her throat. Slowly, she looked down, trying to suppress the swirl of emotions wanting to overtake her at the moment. She understood his request, but that didn't mean she exactly liked it. If he needed to be alone to figure everything out, however, then she would leave him alone. She just wanted him to be happy and back to his original self. Jasmine placed her mask on then silently walked past him and towards the motorcycle she used.

Batwoman swung her leg over the vehicle and settled in it. She glanced one more time at Dick, who had paused and was looking over at her. However, he slowly turned away once more and then continued beating up the punching bag. Batwoman lowered her head, sighing sadly before starting up the motorcycle. It roared to life and she took off towards Gotham. Right now, she didn't want to think about her and Dick's conversation. She just wanted to beat the shit out of some petty criminal.

As she entered the large city, Batwoman put the motorcycle into its auto driving mode then pulled her batclaw out. She shot it, and it latched onto a gargoyle before pulling her up. She launched upward then let go, spreading her wing like cape out, which allowed her to glide onto the roof. She then drew the cape back down, and landed on the ground in a crouch. Slowly, Batwoman stood to her full height and stood at the edge of the building, gazing out across the city. At the moment, there weren't any police sirens going off, which was impressive itself. Sadly, this also meant that she would have to run across the city looking for any signs of illegal and bad activity. Batwoman was about to take off, when the scruff of a foot came from behind her. In only a second, she drew out a batarang and whirled around, throwing it instantly.

"Hello to you too," Red Hood spoke, dodging the batarang rather easily. Batwoman scowled at him.

"You son of a bitch. You really show some nerve appearing in front of me," She practically snarled, moving her hands to her whips. Red Hood raised his hands innocently.

"Calm down, calm down. I'm not here to fight. I'm here merely to talk," He explained slowly.

"Yeah? Well too bad, because you really pissed me off," Batwoman spat, then attacked him. She threw multiple punches at him, all of which hard and executed perfectly. Red Hood dodged and blocked her punches, sighing softly.

"Well. Plan A definitely didn't work. Time for Plan B," He spoke lowly, and Batwoman glared at him, throwing another punch.

"What the hell is Plan B?"

"Taking you by force," Red Hood said, then drew a smoke ball out of a packet at his waist and threw it to the ground.

Light gray gas immediately expelled from the ball, and she coughed, trying to spring back, but Red Hood snatched her wrists and drew her close to his chest. Batwoman immediately began to feel dizzy and light-headed. Her eyelids were becoming heavy, and it was getting harder and harder to stay conscious. Red Hood let go of her wrists as she began to fall into him, wrapping his arms around her and swiftly picked her up bridal style. Batwoman could hear the gentle thudding of his heart from between his clothes, faintly surprised as she noted it seemed to be faster than a normal, calm heartbeat. What also surprised her was how gentle he seemed to be handling her. However, there was hardly any time to really think through anything, and Batwoman became limp and lost consciousness…

"Where…am I?" Jasmine murmured drowsily after she slowly peered her eyes open.

Slowly, Jasmine gazed around, starting to take in her surrounding gradually. She was still working off the effects of that gas that knocked her out, but she was becoming more and more aware, which was nice. She was strapped tightly to a chair, and when she tested the bonds, knew that it would be futile to try and escape. They were much too tight. Not only that, but the chair was made of metal. There was no way tipping it over would do anything to help other than place her in an awkward position. The room itself was windowless, and seemingly square. Jasmine couldn't see all the way behind her, so for all she knew, there was a random hallway behind her. There was a small table in front of her that had her mask on it along with her two whips. Her whips were probably a precaution, but her mask? Was Red Hood planning on exposing her to all of Gotham or something along those lines?

"You're awake. Good," Red Hood spoke, slowly strolling out from behind her. Jasmine's eyes trailed him and she narrowed them, "Oh. And your tracker is still active, in case you were wondering. Though, I was able to deactivate that pesky distress signal temporarily, so there isn't any point in trying to use it."

"You seem to know plenty about my equipment," Jasmine stated sharply.

"I guess you could call me an expert on it," Red Hood responded with a simple shrug before standing before her.

"So. Why am I here, Hood? Are you planning on exposing me?" She scowled and he sighed before walking over to her. He leaned over, resting his hands on the ends of the armrests and bringing his concealed face close to hers.

"I told you. I wanted to talk," He spoke lowly before pulling back.

"Then talk," Jasmine snapped, and Red Hood chuckled softly.

"You really did become feisty, Jasmine. All serious and no joke, which is really rather ironic considering you're the Joker's daughter," He said, clasping his hands behind his back and slowly walked around her, as though he was inspecting a caged animal. Jasmine's eyes widened, and she snapped her eyes to him, though they could only trail him as he slowly walked.

"How do you know who my parents are? Hell, how do you even know who _I_ am?" She asked, which pulled another sigh from Red Hood, which sounded exasperated.

"Come on, Jasmine. Surely you have an idea about who I am. I'm getting impatient," He said in annoyance, stopping in front of her once again and crossing his arms over his chest before her.

Jasmine stared at Red Hood coldly. Of course she tried to consider who he was. No one ever made any sense though. At first she figured it was one of her father's workers who had heard about her, but then he shouldn't have known anything about Dick. Perhaps the whole injecting him with the drug was just to get Nightwing under his thumb, but it seemed…planned, somehow. Then this person had to be someone who knew both her and Dick Grayson. The thing was…there was only one person who actually matched this…but that was impossible. It couldn't be him.

"I have an idea, but it's an impossible idea. He's dead." She said in a quieter voice, lowering her head a little. However, her chin was then forcefully grabbed and her head forced up to Red Hood.

"Tell me the name, Jasmine Quinn." He said darkly. She stared at him for a moment.

"If I do?"

"I'll reveal myself."

Jasmine was faintly surprised at this before speaking, "His name was Jason. Jason Todd. But he died over a year ago."

"Did he really?" Red Hood spoke coldly, letting go of her chin. He slowly crouched down in front of her and raised his hands to his helmet, "Well, I assure you, Jasmine," He began, pulling the helmet off. It dropped to the ground with a loud clatter, but Jasmine hardly noticed. She was staring at the man crouched before her in shock and disbelief, unable to speak, "I am _very_ much alive."

"J-Jason…" Jasmine whispered, staring at him like she was seeing a ghost. Well, in a way, she _was_ seeing a ghost. She watched her father shoot him in the chest. He died, and yet, here he was, crouching before her. It was evidently Jason. Those startlingly bright blue eyes she had come to know only belonged to him. Now, his midnight black hair was still cut rather short, though his bangs were long enough to go over his eyes a bit. At the moment, it was messy and unruly from being in the helmet. There was also a 'J' shaped scar on his cheek where her father had branded him.

"I…I watched you die…" She whispered, and Jason scowled at her. He stood up before leaning over her, resting his hand on the back of the chair and meeting her eyes with his.

"No. You didn't. Your father tortured me for a whole goddamn year! Bruce left me with him, and he took on that new little shit as Robin. What is his name again? Tim Drake?" Jason spat, and she heard his hand tighten on the chair. She couldn't stop staring at him. It was hard to believe that he was actually alive, when after all this time, she was sure he was dead.

"No…Jason, we all thought you died," She breathed out quietly. Jason's blue eyes blazed fiercely and full of rage.

"That's a LIE! Bruce KNEW. He KNEW I was still there! And Dick? Oh, Bruce tells his favorite everything. He knew exactly where I was and that I was still alive! And what did they do? They LEFT me! They left me with JOKER!" Jason shouted furiously.

Jasmine caught her breath, trapped under his explosive gaze, "Did Joker tell you that, Jason?" She asked softly.

"Shut up!" He snarled, pushing away from her and turned his back, his hands clenched into fists.

"I'll take that as he did. Jason, he lied to you. Bruce and Dick had no idea you were alive. Everyone thought you were dead," She said to him. Jason was still for a moment before turning his head a little to the side, and shifted his blue eyes to her. She was taken aback by the anger and rage held within them…along with the hidden sorrow.

"Bruce and Dick don't care about me, and they never did. That's just how it is Jasmine," He spoke coldly before walking over to her and leaned down so their eyes were level once again, "I'm going to destroy them, not just kill them. Get it?"

"Jason-" She whispered, but cut off as he pressed a finger to her lips.

"Don't deny it, or tell me differently, Jasmine," He said darkly before giving a cold smile, "You know, I hated you for a long time. Joker told me that you were his little spy the entire time you were with us. That you were the reason why I was taken in the first place since you were feeding him information. Oh how I wanted to kill you. I wanted to make you scream," He spoke lowly, moving his hand to her neck. She swallowed hard as his hand moved around, though he didn't squeeze. His thumb rested just above the middle of her collarbone, almost threateningly.

"Joker's daughter. You could imagine how stupid I felt for trusting you at all. When Joker died from the Venom, I was released. I spent those months retraining myself, and learning a few other skills. However, I kept in touch with what was going on in Gotham. I heard that Batwoman beat up Harley Quinn so badly that she was on the verge of death. That's when I knew that what Joker said about you was wrong. If you were working for your parents, then why the hell would you try and kill your mother? So, I looked into it. You always have interested me, after all. You posed as the dark and beautiful Jessamine Quest. Paparazzi were forbidden and unable to get a picture of you, but people had plenty to say. They said you were quiet, unfriendly, and seemingly depressed at times. Since Nightwing returned strictly to Bludhaven, I figured you and Dick had a falling out. At first I thought that was why you were upset, but then I thought that maybe you were actually more upset about me. I remember hearing how you kept going back to those places your parents kept you in even when Bruce and Dick stopped. When you stopped as well, I figured they lied to you and said I was dead. Showed you some video of me dying to seal the deal. Am I right?" He asked, trailing his thumb along her neck.

"To an extent," Jasmine murmured, but figured saying what was wrong would only set him off again. Jason narrowed his eyes a little before shaking his head, seeming to brush her statement away. He then moved his hand up, setting his thumb on her jaw then moving her head to the side and seemed to peer at her bruises.

"I apologize for making Dick almost kill you. You see, I found out that he actually loved you. Earlier, I thought he didn't care that much, if I'm entirely honest. Killing you would have crushed his very spirit. Then I would finish the job. But I don't really have anything against you, Jasmine. In fact, it's the opposite," He said, moving his hand from her neck and tilted her head up to him. He moved his face close to hers as he peered into her eyes. Jasmine stared at him incredulously, unable to look away from him.

"J-Jason…" She said in a hushed voice, and Jason smirked a little.

"Jasmine, I was the one who liked you first. I told Dick to give me a chance with you, since he always did get the girls, but of course he lied to me. He went after you the very moment I left, didn't he? Anyways, I brought you here to request a partnership," He said, pulling back and drawing his hands away from her. He straightened up to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You…liked me?" She murmured before shaking her head, "Partnership? Jason, just come _home_." She said, and he scowled.

"Have you not listened to a word I've said, Jasmine? I'm going to kill Dick and Bruce for leaving me with Joker, and then I'm going to become the _new_ Batman of Gotham, and I want you to join me," He said. She stared at him before shaking her head.

"Jason, this killer you've become…it isn't you, and it isn't me. I won't kill Bruce and Dick," She said to him almost desperately. However, Jason simply laughed lightly at her words.

"Oh Jasmine. Maybe it wasn't me all those months ago, but now it is. Your father created me," He said, spreading his arms out before gazing at her, "and he created you. You were created in a more, well, technical way, but still one of his products nonetheless. Besides Jasmine, you can't deny what you are. A killer. Even when you fought Dick, I could see it. The thrill you got, because it wasn't some easy fight. You _enjoyed_ it, didn't you? How did it feel beating the shit out of Harley? Jasmine, we are one of the same. We're both killers when it comes down to it. We _belong_ together," He said to her with a small smirk.

"No…NO! Jason, we are NOT what my father wanted us to be! We're better than him! I may have felt a thrill, and I may have been raised to kill, but I've chosen a path that is better than the one he paved for me. You don't have to do this, Jason. You're letting my father win," She said to him fiercely. Jason's eyes narrowed and took on a dark edge.

"Letting your father win?" He snarled stalking towards her. He grabbed her collar and pulled her forwards, which rocked the chair forward as well, "Oh no. I'm NOTHING like Joker. I'm BETTER than him. You see, Bruce is ruining Gotham. Not killing the criminals? It's idiotic! If he had killed Joker a long time ago, this never would have happened to me! IT'S HIS ENTIRE DAMN FAULT. I HATE HIM, AND I'LL SHATTER HIM AND DICK!" He shouted, and Jasmine saw the tears building in his rage and hatred filled eyes.

"My God, Jason…what did he do to you?" She whispered, tears building in her own eyes as she thought back to the Jason Todd she remembered. His eyes narrowed and he glared at her before letting go, letting the chair fall back to its original position.

"If you won't join me now, then I'll just have to put you down memory's lane and remind you who and what you _really_ are, Jasmine," Jason spoke lowly, picking his helmet up and putting it into place, "We're the only ones who can truly make Gotham a safe, crimeless city. By controlling the crime with reinforced fear."

"Jason, stop this! Please! Everyone misses you. No one hates you! Dick…Dick fell into a deep depression after he saw the video Joker sent of you being shot in the chest. He blamed himself for not being able to find you, Jason. He always thought of you as a brother, and nothing less. Bruce lost it after he thought you died, Jason. He became more violent and unforgiving. He hardly spoke to anyone, and when he did, it was short and unfriendly. Dick brought Tim in because Batman needs a Robin to hold him back. To show him humanity and mercy! It brought him back. Your Robin costume is still set up in a case, and sometimes I find him standing in front of it with his hand against the glass. He _loves_ you, Jason. You are a son to him. And I know that deep down you can see the flaws in your own thinking! Killing the criminals of Gotham isn't going to accomplish anything but making you just like them!" She burst out, and Red Hood faltered in taking out one of his smoke balls. Slowly, he crouched down, resting his covered head in his shaking hands.

"SHUT UP! Just shut up, Jasmine!" He shouted, rising back on his feet and rolled the smoke ball towards her, which expelled the knockout gas. He straightened up, his eyes glowing through the smoke, "I do hope you reconsider my partnership."

"Jay…Jason…" Jasmine murmured, her vision darkening at the edges before she passed out completely.

As Jasmine regained consciousness, she didn't open her eyes immediately. This time, she evaluated where she was first. She had no idea what Jason had decided to do with her to put her down "memory's lane." However, with her past, it made her extremely wary. As her groggy mind slowly became more aware despite her eyes remaining closed, Jasmine then became noted that her arms were up over her head. With a small movement of her hands, she was able to feel the light rub of a rope. Bound. So she was probably hanging from the ceiling by her wrists. Her legs were slack, and when she tensed them up unnoticeably, she found that they were bound as well, and if she were to guess, so were her ankles. Whoever had her strung up was being cautious, which was smart on their part. She still couldn't activate the distress signal with all of her limbs bound as tightly as they were. That is, if it had recovered from Jason deactivating it. Now came the worst part. Opening her eyes and figuring out where she was. Right now, all she needed to focus on was getting out. If she allowed herself to think too long or hard about Jason, she might lose it.

"Wakey wakey, Jasmine!" A high-pitched, all-too familiar voice rang out.

Dread and hatred rose in Jasmine all at once, and she snapped her eyes open. Sure enough, standing before her was none other than her psychotic mother. Her blonde hair was pulled into pigtails, like usual, and her face a frosty white. Red lipstick stained her lips, and her eyes were shadowed by mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow, making the blue of her eyes pop out. She wore a low-cut half black and half red corset looking shirt, and a skirt with the same colors, but opposite sides. She really hadn't changed all that much, which was really disappointing for Jasmine. She had hoped that with her father dead, Harley might have regained some of her sanity back and moved on. Now she had no reason to deny what Bruce said to her a while ago. Harley simply got worse after Joker died. _I can't catch a break today…_

"Harley," Jasmine stated coldly in greeting, glancing a little to the side. She could feel the weight of her whips at her waist, but her mask was thrown across the room, a long crack going down a side of it. Looks like her "dear" mother threw a tantrum earlier.

"Is that all you say to your mother after beating her up and not seeing her in a few months? I'm hurt, Jazzy Baby!" Harley stated, pouting lightly and placing her hands on her chest as though injured.

"You are hardly my mother, Harley," Jasmine spoke lowly, earning a harsh slap. Her head turned from the force of it, and she slowly glanced at Harley.

"I'm your _only_ mother! And Mista J is your father," She said in this floaty kind of voice.

"Was. And he was barely a father to me just like you were barely a mother to me," Jasmine spoke matter-of-factly. She saw the anger that blazed in Harley's eyes, and then braced herself as another slap cracked against her other cheek.

"Don't you dare disrespect Mista J! You're the one that betrayed him! Our own daughter!" She wailed, and Jasmine fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before dear old Dad killed Risuka. You know, the woman who is actually my mother," Jasmine spoke thinly, and Harley stared at her before bursting out into crazy laugher, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"The Asian _whip lady_? Oh, Jazzy Baby, she didn't love you! Why, if I remember correctly, she whipped you, and worked you until you could hardly stand! No one loves you," She said, grabbing Jasmine's face and forcing her to look at her, "Only I can. Your real mother," She said with a joyful beaming smile.

Jasmine glared at her hatefully and turned her head sharply, breaking out of Harley's grip, "That's a lie."

"Is it? Who else loves you, Jasmine? Who can love you but me?!" She burst out, and Jasmine glanced at her stonily, which made her burst out into even more laughter, "Oh my God! You think B-Man and that Nightwing care about you! This is too funny! HA!" She giggled jubilantly, filling the room with her insane laughter. Jasmine simply stared at her expressionlessly. Suddenly, Harley abruptly cut off and smiled almost chillingly, "They couldn't give a single little care about you. You're just a weapon to them, baby! That's all."

"They care about a hell of a lot more than you do, Harley," Jasmine said lowly. Harley scowled faintly at this.

"Oh, Jasmine, that's simply not true. I'm your mother!"

"No. Risuka is."

Harley huffed and tsked softly before pulling a knife out and giving a wide smile, "If she loved you so much, then you will probably like to remember everything she did to you! "

Jasmine narrowed her eyes a little in confusion as Harley skipped behind her. She felt Harley gather her cape and tug on it, only for the weight to be released and her cape was thrown to the ground. Then, Jasmine's eyes widened a little as she felt Harley pull the fabric of her suit at the back of her neck, then draw her knife through it. She could feel the sharp tip of the knife just grazing over her skin starting at the back of her neck and moving all the way down to her lower back. Harley pushed the two sides aside, exposing Jasmine's back completely. _No way. She wouldn't…Harley wasn't ever crazy enough to do something like this._

"You speak so highly of that Risuka, but do you remember this?" Harley asked, her voice taking this darker tone.

Jasmine then felt the prick of the knife as it dug just under her shoulder blade, only to slowly move down, cutting deeply into her skin. Jasmine narrowed her eyes, but didn't flinch or make a single noise of the pain she hardly felt. As Harley pulled the knife back, she could feel the warmth of her blood rising up from the deep cut and begin to trail down the rest of her back. If she were to guess, Harley was using the scars on her back as a kind of guideline of where to cut. Like a coloring book for torture.

"I remember it a bit differently, actually," Jasmine smirked. She knew it was probably stupid to say something that would most likely provoke Harley, but at this point, she just didn't care. There were over one hundred light scars on her back, and if Harley was so motivated to mutilate her back, she might as well get something out of it.

"Is that so? Allow me to make it even better for you then!" Harley giggled away before jabbing the knife at the bottom of a scar on her lower back. Instead of taking her sweet time, Harely ripped the knife upward, following the trail of the cut then moving the weapon out of Jasmine's skin as it ended. Jasmine simply stared hard at the wall before her, steeling herself for the next one.

Jasmine didn't speak out again. The cuts came one after the other, every single one different from the last. Some were quick, and others slow. Some were deep slashes and others were ranged between shallow, to deep, and shallow once more. By the time Harley placed fifteen on her back, Jasmine was barely hanging on to her composure. Every single one she had taken without a wince, or any outward sign of pain. She remained still and stared hard at the wall. However, these cuts weren't lashes from a whip. In fact, Jasmine would have taken getting whipped over the hell Harley was putting her through any day. At least with the whips it was quick. The only thing that ever changed was how hard it hit her back, and where it hit. This? This was torturous.

When Harley made the twentieth slash upon her back, making it go from the middle to her lower back, Jasmine couldn't contain the pain anymore. She arched her back and gasped sharply. It was agony. All Harely did was giggle and then continue. 20 cuts soon became 25, and then 30. Each cut got a bigger reaction, until Jasmine was screaming as the knife was dragged across her skin and crossed over other cuts. Her blood dripped to the ground like teardrops, making small pools, and her entire back was hot and stained crimson as the blood gushed from each wound. As Harley dug the knife at the top of her shoulder and cut it a bit sideways, making it painfully slow, Jasmine cried out hoarsely. Her body hung limply by her wrists, and the rope was cutting into her skin, making blood spring up there as well. The whole thing was basically a bloodbath. That was fifty.

After that fiftieth cut, Harley pulled back and slowly came back around to face Jasmine, whose dull eyes were fixed upon the ground. Her breathes came out shakily, and she didn't make the effort to look up at her crazy mother. However, it didn't really matter, since Harley moved her head up anyways. Jasmine looked at Harley, her hands covered in her daughter's blood, and a few specs of it tainting the white of her face here and there. The fingers that were holding Jasmine's head up were slick with blood.

"You are my daughter, Jasmine. You've always been a weapon. No one can love that. The only person who can love you, is me. You are dark and you are a killer, just like Mista J wanted you to be! You did almost kill me, remember?" Harley spoke sweetly.

Jasmine closed her eyes painfully. Harley wasn't entirely wrong, and neither was Jason. She was dark. Deep down, she was a killer. The sick thrill that went through her fighting the man she loved…how could she explain that in any other way? She thought she had escaped her father. That she denied the path that had been forced upon her since the day she took her first breath. But it was all an illusion. Something she wanted herself to believe. How can she escape fate?

"Come on, Jasmine baby. You can join me and be at my side, just like you belong. B-Man doesn't care about you, Nightwing doesn't care about you, and neither does that Robin. They are using you. But I won't. We can inflict all the fun we want to on Gotham as mother and daughter! All you have to do it tell me Batman's name. That's all there is to it," Harley spoke in a velvet voice.

Jasmine slowly peered her eyes open, staring at Harley dully. No one cared about her? It would make sense. Who could love a daughter of chaos? Why did she think it could be anything more? She has always just been a weapon. A sharp sword that was being used with its blunt side. What was the point of that? She might as well just kill if that was what she was meant to do. In her broken state, Jasmine opened her mouth, about to utter Bruce's name, but paused as small memories flashed across her eyes. Bruce hugging her, telling her that she was better than her father, putting up with her antics, holding her when she collapsed into him after her fight with Dick, and the way that he was like a real father to her. Then her memories shifted to Dick kissing her, teasing around, saying how he loved her, never giving up on her, helping her with her fear of fire, and the night they spent together. Of course, there was also Tim, who openly forgave her for being terrible to him, and allowed her to try and get to know him better after a year of pushing him away.

"No," Jasmine whispered, and Harley narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean, "no"?"

"I mean, you're wrong. I let myself be manipulated by your words for a moment, but the truth is this. I have a family, and every single one of them cares about me, and loves me. More than you ever have, or ever will. You think that love is impossible for someone like me, but in all reality, this loveless person is you, Harley. I refuse to be what you are. So, you want Batman's name? Well, then go to hell you psycho bitch," Jasmine said strongly, despite how hoarse her voice was from her screams.

Harley's eyes blazed and she let out an angry shout before swinging her knife, cutting the bonds holding her up. Jasmine collapsed to the ground, crying out as she landed on her back, arching it before lying flat on the ground, "Your loss!" She said, and Jasmine listened to the sound of her heels fading as she walked out.

Jasmine waited for a moment, and when she didn't hear the clicking of heels, let out a soft breath. So Harley left her to bleed out. She would have figured that Harley was going to kill her. Shakily, Jasmine reached up and moved her hand to the top of the bat symbol on her chest. She found the small button to activate the distress signal and pressed it. Immediately, a small red light flashed on and off from the location of the button, and Jasmine shifted her gaze up to the ceiling, a small smile coming over her. Jason hadn't lied when he said he deactivated it temporarily. That small happy smile slowly faded as her vision began to as well. Black was gathering along the edges. Jasmine was very well aware of the high possibility of her death. In fact, it was probably more likely than her surviving as of right now.

 _I'm sorry, Dick. I love you_. Jasmine thought to herself, before succumbing to the overwhelming darkness as it swept over her, and took away the pain.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Dick Grayson looked to Batwoman as she settled onto her motorcycle, his fists slowly lowering from the punching bag. Their discussion echoed in his mind. A part of him longed to be going with her, but in the long run, he knew that it just wasn't safe. Bruce let him out two days ago, but he couldn't help but fear that there was lingering effects. Not that he had been affected by any, but in this case, one couldn't be too careful. When she looked over at him, Dick averted his eyes and turned back to the punching bag. As he heard the engine purr to life, he landed a hard punch to the punching back and listened as the roar of the motorcycle faded away.

As his hand with the wrapped wrist struck the bag hard, Dick gritted his teeth. Slowly, he stepped back, clutching his wrist. Each punch he gave with that hand made pain burst from the wrist Jasmine had injured. At first, it hadn't been too bad, so Dick just continued punching with it. However, after each punch the pain got worse and worse, along with his knuckles bruising from the harsh impact and numerous punches. Not only was his wrist screaming at him, but both of his hands were throbbing dully from the beating they took. The pain was a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Whenever he didn't occupy his mind, all he did was see flashbacks of what he did to Jasmine.

Dick looked down at his wrist noticing the small specks of blood on the white bandages. He sighed then winced as he gently unwrapped the bandages to inspect the wound. It was much better than it was before considering it was stitched up. He did pull out a stitch though. Alfred was going to be pissed. Sighing, Dick rewrapped the wound before grabbing the water bottle he brought down and walked to the bench. He sat on it, sipping the water before setting it on the ground and placing his head in his hands.

Dick hated himself. Every little thought of what he did to Jasmine…it was torture. The worst part was that it kept replaying in his head like a broken tape. Small things would trigger parts of the night, and if they weren't triggered and he wasn't occupying his mind, the whole thing would start from the beginning and play out until she kissed him and bashed the damn gun against his head to knock him out. Her screams and pleads echoed in his ears, and her blood and almost desperate eyes haunted him. Seeing her when she came down to speak with him before leaving into Gotham…he could hardly look at her. Then there she was, telling him that what he did wasn't his fault, just like Bruce has been telling him. That the bruises covering her neck, the bruise on her cheek, and the ones that were probably covering her stomach wasn't on him. Dick didn't understand. How could she forgive him for what he did?

A part of Dick wished that Jasmine would just hate him like anyone else would. The other part was relieved she didn't. He loved her. The thought that she would truly hate him, even more than before, made him feel even more broken than he already felt. It was selfish of him, he knew, to feel this way, not to mention contradicting. The two sides were completely opposite, and clashed, but it wasn't like he could just…whisk it away. The only person he has really talked to about this is Bruce, but even then, he hardly took any of what Bruce told him to heart.

Like Jasmine, Bruce told him that the whole epidemic wasn't his fault. The drug had been forced into his system, and Red Hood put him under his control. It also altered his dependency and so on, making it near impossible to break out from the drug's influence. The very fact that he had been able to fight against it when the gun was against Jasmine's head was a miracle in itself, according to Bruce. Despite this, Dick was still uncertain and rested the blame all on his shoulders. He shouldn't have been so careless when versing Red Hood back in Penguin's nightclub. The drug never should have been injected into him in the first place. Every single way Dick looked at it, all of it was his complete fault. There was no way around that.

Seeing the hope that had been Jasmine's eyes when she asked him to go out into Gotham with her…Dick's chest had constricted at the sight. All he had seen when she took his hand and looked into his eyes was being crouched over her, her good hand pinned above her head, the gun pressed against her forehead, and her beautiful blue-green eyes gazing up at him sorrowfully and hopelessly before squeezing shut. Being around her was much too dangerous for him to be doing. If he ended up hurting her again, or worse, killing her, he could never forgive himself. Bruce advised him to talk through everything with her a few days ago, but he could never bring himself to. He needed to accept everything that happened first before he spoke with her. Hopefully then, he would be more accepting of what she was telling him. As of now, Dick's mind was set on the blame being his.

Sucking in a deep breath, Dick slowly lowered his hands from his face, though he kept his head ducked. He considered returning to Bludhaven multiple times. If he left, Jasmine would be safe from him, and he would have the time to be alone and go through everything that happened. When he asked Bruce about it, the man that was like a father to him was instantly against it, saying that the best thing for him was to stay in Gotham until he was stable. At first, Dick didn't see how he was being anything but stable, but as he gazed down at his bruised and throbbing hands, he figured that Bruce had a small point. He just pulled out a stitch and beat up his hands just so he could stop reliving that night. So he could stop seeing himself beating the woman he loved and hearing her gasps and cries of pain.

"You didn't go with her?"

Dick lifted his head up, seeing Bruce dressed in his gear standing a few feet away, "No."

"Why not?" He asked, walking over and sat beside him, pushing the cowl from his head. Dick looked away from him, his eyes fixed on the ground in a harsh glare.

"You know why, Bruce. I can't _look_ at her without remembering what I did. Each bruise on her neck makes me relive _strangling_ her. The bruise on her cheek makes me remember each _strike_ I landed on her. Meeting her eyes makes me see her looking at me with hopelessness as I pressed a _gun_ to her _forehead_ …" Dick trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut, "I hate that she forgives me so easily."

"Would you prefer that she didn't forgive you? Look, Dick, I understand that this is hard for you to come to terms with. The thing is, you need to recognize that you were drugged, and had no control over your actions," Bruce said to him matter-of-factly, and Dick shook his head, looking away almost angrily.

"Yeah. Until the end," He said coldly, and heard Bruce sighed lightly, "How can you even look at me like some victim, Bruce? I'm practically a killer after this," He breathed.

There was a small moment of silence before Dick felt Bruce rest his hand on his shoulder. Dick glanced over at him miserably, "You are many things, Dick. A killer is _not_ one of them. You have a pure character. Don't let this ruin you."

Dick was silent as Bruce then stood up, pulling his cowl back on and becoming the Dark Knight once again. His cape swept behind him as he began to walk off, "Isn't Tim going with you?"

"No. He's staying in tonight," Batman responded without looking back at him. Dick watched as he went onto the batcycle and took off, shaking his head a little. He probably set it up, hoping that Dick would take the opportunity to become Nightwing and take Tim out as Robin with him. That, or he was keeping Tim here to keep an eye on him. Dick was just grateful that he hadn't said anything about his hands.

Running a hand through is hair, Dick got to his feet, grabbing the towel and his water bottle before heading up to the manor. He didn't have any plans on going out tonight, so he might as well tell Alfred about the pulled stitch and take the heat now rather than later. He slung the towel over his right shoulder and headed to the kitchen, hoping to find Alfred. Instead, he found Tim sipping a mug of what he assumed to be coffee, and had a notebook and book open in front of him. Hesitantly, Dick walked over and paused beside him.

"Coffee at this hour?"

Tim glanced up and offered a light smile, "Yeah. Alfred thought it was weird too. I think I've got an addiction to the stuff," He chuckled.

A small, weak smile came over Dick for a moment, "An addiction, huh? If Alfred runs out of coffee beans, none of us are going to be happy. Bruce without coffee when he wakes up early sounds terrible."

"I won't drink _that_ much!" Tim exclaimed with a small laugh, scribbling something down then pushing the book and notebook away. He then took the mug in his hands and sipped it, turning towards Dick.

"That's what they all say," Dick teased lightly, relaxing for a moment.

"So…Dick. I was thinking that maybe we could go out together," Tim spoke up a little tentatively. Dick's light smile fell and he glanced away.

"Can't. I pulled my stitches," He mumbled.

"Okay. You could always get the wound re-stitched and then join me," Tim responded calmly. Dick sighed and shook his head, walking away.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Tim," Dick said quietly, though paused at the door.

"Where's Alfred?"

"I'm not sure. Around," Tim said, the disappointment evident in his voice. Dick winced a little and was about to leave when Alfred just walked up to the doorway.

"Speak of the devil," Dick stated, stepping back a little, "Hey Alfred, I was looking for you."

"What do you need, Master Dick?" Alfred sighed, telling Dick he was probably busy with something else. He hated to disturb his work with the wound that he reopened.

"The stitches in my wrist came loose," He said, extending his hand. More blood had soaked up into the bandages. Alfred sighed heavily and pulled a needle, thread and scissors out of his pocket.

"Master Dick! I told you to be careful when using your wrist for this exact reason!" He scolded, sharply taking his wrist. Dick winced a little and watched as the butler unwrapped the injury.

"I know, I know. I think the most remarkable thing is the fact that you have stitching supplies in your pocket," Dick spoke, trying to act lighthearted. It earned a light glare from Alfred, who then cut loose the rest of the stitches and pulled them out of the wound, which definitely didn't feel great. He then took the needle and thread and began to stitch up his wound once again, making Dick wince lightly, but he remained silent.

"That would be because everyone in this house either gets hurt or won't listen to my bloody instructions," Alfred said chillingly, and Dick chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, sorry Alfred."

"I'm sure you are, Master Dick," Alfred spoke, finishing off the last stitch, "There you are. Please do try to not pull them out again."

"Of course," Dick stated, bundling the white bandages into his hand as Alfred walked past him to clean the needle and scissors, along with his hands.

Dick quietly left and went to the infirmary area, tossing away the bandages and taking out clean ones from a drawer. He then carefully rewrapped his wrist. It was a wound that he took without complaint. Sure, it hurt here and there, but he could handle that. After everything, he figured that it was justified for him to have a wound from Jasmine. From the way she had seemed to glance at the bandages on him, which was also on his bicep and leg, she felt guilty about it. In all truth, she shouldn't feel guilty at all. She only did what she had to.

It was then that Dick's thought shifted. However, for the first time in a week, it didn't go to thoughts of _that_ night. It went to Tim and what he had asked only a few minutes ago, and what Bruce had said to him as well. Dick wanted to be alone to figure everything out, but at the same time…maybe it would be better if he wasn't alone. Besides, he told himself that he would be there for Tim, unlike the two years he had left Jason without hardly any contact. What he was doing was pushing the younger boy away. Perhaps it would be better if he did go out with Tim. If Jasmine saw them, and she probably would, the fact that he went with Tim and not her might make her upset. That was what cause him to hesitate for a moment before pushing it out of his mind. He had to do everything he could do get better for her. If figuring this all out with other people was better than him dealing with it alone…then he would do it.

Dick jogged to his room, pulling his clothes off as he entered it and pulling his Nightwing suit on. He strapped the escrima sticks to his back, then caught his reflection for a moment. Instantly, his mind shifted back to Jasmine running up to him, only to pause when he didn't answer her. Then Red Hood appeared behind her, and he grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground. Dick sucked in a deep breath and pushed himself away from the lingering memory before returning back down to the kitchen. Tim glanced up as he arrived, a wide smile coming over him and he jumped off the chair.

"Did you change your mind?"

"Yup. Go get everything on. I'll wait for you down in the Batcave," Nightwing said, ruffling his hair lightly before walking past him and back towards the Batcave. Behind him, he heard the quick thudding of Tim's shoes as he ran off.

As Nightwing rode the elevator down, he desperately hoped that this was the right choice, and that he wasn't making some huge mistake by going out. If they caught a break, he would be able to ask Tim what he thought about everything. Not only that, but this would be a nice distraction from his thoughts…unless it would trigger everything. It was a risk, but he might as well try it. Being with Tim didn't put him or Jasmine in danger. Nightwing then stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened, and he walked to the center platform, which had the batcomputer resting on the far side. They were lucky tonight. They would get to use the batmobile.

It was only a few minutes of him waiting that a beeping from the batcomputer caught Nightwing's attention. The sound of it made his stiffen, and he ran over, quickly pulling up the notification. Batwoman had activated her distress signal. Nightwing's heart began to pound loudly in his chest as he immediately traced the signal of her tracker. The map of Gotham came up and blurred past the buildings and streets before resting on one point with a large pulsing red bat on the spot. It was the building where he had first met her. That meant…

"Harely," Nightwing breathed out in horror, immediately grabbing the batmobile keys and sprinted to the vehicle. The top of the batmobile opened as he activated it using the key, and he jumped in, landing in the driver's seat, and instantly started it. The hood closed, and the devices within the car all came to life. Then he took off, knowing Tim would be pissed, but at the moment, the only thing on his mind was getting to Jasmine.

Nightwing sped through the streets as fast as he dared. He wanted to get to Jasmine quickly, and crashing the batmobile would slow him down considerably. How had she been taken by Harley? A better question: What did Harley do to Jasmine, or what is she doing to her? Everyone knew that Harley went way off the deep end after Joker died, which was the opposite of what everyone had hoped would happen. He knew that Jasmine had almost killed Harley many months ago, and figured that the crazy woman was sent to Arkham to recover and then continue with her treatment. However, there had been no word of her escape. Perhaps it was recent, or she had been able to trick the entire staff at Arkham. It wouldn't be the first time the latter had happened if that was the case.

Nightwing slammed on the brakes as the house loomed just ahead, and he pressed the button to open the hood. The batmobile skidded just in front of the building and he jumped out. He sprinted to the building, noting that the door was ajar. At this point, his heart was racing and pounding. He pushed the door open harshly, making the door slam back against the wall as he just burst in. His swept his eyes over the area and he stayed still, trying to hear anything. When he heard nothing, Nightwing swallowed hard. He had no idea if Harley was still here or not, but he had to find Jasmine.

"Batwoman!" He called out, running to her old room. As he entered it, he caught his breath. The whole place was wrecked. It was like someone took a baseball bat to it. Considering her parents, it wasn't unlikely it had been one of them. There was no answer from Jasmine.

Nightwing then studied the room quickly, spotting something out of place. A floorboard was poking up from the ground. He ran over to it and pulled the floorboard up and tossed it to the side, not caring what it hit or where it landed. Beneath it was a lever. Nightwing figured that it could be a trap, but he couldn't waste any time. This could also lead him to her. So, he gripped the lever and pulled it to the right. Almost immediately, a part of the wall slid back, creating a doorway that lead down. Bingo.

Getting to his feet, Nightwing ran down the steps. The area was dimly lit by cheap lightbulbs. It didn't go too far when he came into a square room. He paused for a moment in horror as he took in the scene around him. In the center was Jasmine. She was lying still on the ground, her head turned away from him. Her body was enveloped by a pool of blood. Above her was a small hook with a slashed rope dangling from it pathetically. Her Batwoman mask was resting in a corner, a large crack going through it.

One of those damn memories threatened to come up, but Nightwing forced it away before running over, falling to his knees at her side. He ignored the fact that he was kneeling in her blood. Her face was as white as snow. Small specks of red on her cheeks stood out drastically against the paleness. Despite the circumstances, she looked peaceful, and the demented surrounding and situation did nothing to take away from her beauty. She looked like a killed angel. The only thing that told Nightwing that life resided within her was the small, uneven rise and fall of her chest and the faint sound of her breath coming through her lips. Swallowing hard, Nightwing gently turned her onto her stomach, gasping at what he saw, his hands shaking.

"Jesus…" He breathed, gazing upon the dozens of cuts that had been carved into her back. Most, if not all, were still gushing blood. At this rate, she was going to die within a matter of a few minutes if he didn't stop the blood. The thing was, he didn't have any supplies that could stop the blood flow from so many cuts, let alone save her. His heart felt like it was going to be crushed at the very thought. There had to be a way. Nightwing looked around feverishly, only for his eyes to land on her cape. That would have to do.

Nightwing got up and quickly moved over to the fabric, picking it up then returning to Jasmine. He set her cape over her back, and then gently wrapped the cape around her as he pulled her into his arms. He secured the cape tightly around her back and tied it at her chest, hoping that it would be enough to contain the blood for the time being. He moved his arm beneath her knees and the other he carefully moved around her upper back before rising to his feet with her secure in his arms. Her hand hung limply down and he swallowed hard as he saw the blood dripping from her fingertips. He quickly chook his head then began to walk out of the room. Dick could feel memories of what he did wanting to overtake him, but he managed to hold him back. Right now wasn't the time for them to rise up.

"D…Dick…." The soft, hoarse voice, as quiet and faint as it was, seemed almost loud in Nightwing's ears. He gazed down at Jasmine as he exited the room, heading back towards the batmobile. Her blue-green eyes were open, turned up towards him. The light that was usually contained in them had dulled.

"Don't talk, Jasmine," He spoke, his voice steadier than he had expected it to be considering the epidemic.

"You…you came," Jasmine said hoarsely. If Nightwing had to guess, her voice had become hoarse from screaming. There was no way that anyone, even Jasmine, could have taken the abuse to her back like she had without a word.

"Of course I did," Nightwing said in a hushed tone, glancing down at her for a moment, feeling his heart skip a beat at the love shimmering in her eyes as she gazed up at him.

"You know that…I love you…right?" Jasmine murmured, but her voice was growing faint and her eyes were beginning to close. Nightwing could feel his heart beginning to race as he finally made it to the batmobile, and the hood slid back.

"I know, Jasmine. I love you too." He breathed out to her shakily, and a small smile curved on the edges of her lips as her eyes closed.

"Good…I thought that maybe you…you…" Her voice trailed off slowly until she became entirely limp. Nightwing's eyes widened and his hands shook as he gently set her in the batmobile, quickly climbing into the driver's seat.

 _Hang on just a little longer, Jasmine. I'm going to get you help._ Nightwing thought to himself, slamming his foot on the gas and taking off as fast as he could back to the manor. Jasmine remained unresponsive as he drove. He kept glancing over at her for a few quick seconds, but nothing every changed. If it wasn't for the sound of her shallow breathes, he would have thought that she was dead. Quickly, he called Alfred as he drove rather recklessly.

"Alfred! Jasmine is fatally hurt. There were dozens of cuts all over her back, and she's lost a lot of blood-"

"I'll get the operating room prepared immediately, sir!" Alfred responded, then cut out of the comms. Really, the whole thing was like déjà vu from when Jasmine had been poisoned. Except this time, she had a much bigger chance of dying.

Nightwing burst into the batcave, slamming on the brakes as he came in. Immediately, he jumped out of the batmobile, only to then gently pick Jasmine up, wrapped in her cape. Her head limply rested against his chest. He ran towards the operating room, holding her securely to him as he did. He could feel her blood staining his hands through her cape. She had bled a hell of a lot. As soon as he burst through the door, Alfred was standing to the side of the bed that he had prepared for her. Nightwing strode over and rested Jasmine against the bed.

"Her wrists had wounds on them," He began, reaching down and untying the knot he made to hold the cape in place. He then move the two ends to the sides and turned her as gently as possible to her stomach, "Here's the real problem," With that said, Nightwing drew the blood-soaked cape from her back, revealing the deep, blood-gushing cuts.

"Bloody hell," Alfred spoke, looking shocked and horrified at the sight. However, he shook himself out of it began operating immediately, glancing at Nightwing, "I need you to leave the room, Master Dick."

Nightwing swallowed hard at the order, gazing at Jasmine one more time. She hardly looked alive. Just the thought of her dying felt like someone landed a punch in his gut and took his breath away. She had to live. She couldn't die. Not now. Obediently, Nightwing left the operating room and shut the door behind him before pressing his back against it and slid to the ground. He pressed his hands to his face, slowly moving his fingers into his hair and pulling at his black strands. Once again, he failed her. If she died, it was his entire fault. _I should have taken her offer. I should have just gone with her tonight! If I had, this never would have happened. She would be smiling and making light jokes about something. Instead, she's fighting for her life because her crazy mother tortured her._

Nightwing sat like that for a moment before he snatched the mask off of his face and threw it to the wall across from him with an angered and pained shout at his own idiocy. How could he have messed up in such little time? Everything concluded with the woman he loved being hurt, and almost killed. Hell, he had no idea if she was even going to survive now. He had to wait. It was the sound of approaching footsteps that caught his attention however.

"You ditched me," Tim spoke quietly, and Dick shifted his eyes up to him. However, he saw the young boy's eyes widen as he took in Dick's fill appearance and noted the blood.

"Jasmine's distress signal went off. When I got there, she was lying in a pool of her own blood with at least 40 deep cuts carved into her back. We don't know if she is going to make it yet," Dick said, his voice quivering as he spoke. Tim was speechless for a moment, and kept opening and closing his mouth as if the words couldn't quite catch on his tongue.

"Does…does Bruce know?"

"I haven't really thought of calling him since finding her."

"I'll do it then," Tim responded after a small moment of silence. Dick nodded quietly then stared dully at the ground, squeezing his eyes shut. _My fault, my fault, my fault._

Dick was barely there. He heard Tim call Bruce, but his words were fuzzy in his ears. He just kept his eyes fixated on the ground, barely blinking. Never had he felt so entirely crushed and broken in his life. First he beat the shit out of her, and then his decision led to this. Now she may die, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Time was hardly a factor to Dick at the moment, and when Bruce arrived, Dick didn't even look up. He became aware of his old mentor speaking to him, but he didn't pay attention to the words directed at him. At least, until his shoulders were shook. His eyes then shot up to Bruce, who had this cold, angry and almost fearful look in his eyes.

"How did this happen?" He asked lowly. His voice was a lot calmer than Dick had expected it to be.

"I refused to go with her, and Harley took her then made her back a cutting board," Dick spoke quietly.

"How much blood did she lose?"

"A lot."

"Will she make it?"

"We don't know yet."

Bruce fell silent for a moment before sighing deeply, running his hand through his hair. First it was Barbara getting shot in the spine. Now he may lose Jasmine as well. Dick shifted away from the door, just in case Alfred came out, and leaned back against the wall next to it. He desperately wished that he could do something, and not feel so useless. However, there was simply nothing he could do but wait for the news. If Jasmine would live, or if she would die. Dick, Bruce and Tim all waited outside the room. Minutes turned to hours, and hardly a single word was exchanged. The air was tense as they hoped that Jasmine wasn't dead.

It wasn't until around two in the morning did the door finally open, revealing an exhausted looking Alfred with blood-covered hands. Immediately, Dick got to his feet and walked over to him. Tim ad Bruce also looked up and came over. Each one of them looked to the butler in expectance, waiting to hear the new that had been waiting for.

"Madam Jasmine has stabilized. She will live."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It had been three days since the incident. Jasmine had woken up a day after Dick had brought her back to the manor and was just barely saved. When Dick first got the news, he had sprinted to go see her, but had been stopped by Alfred. Apparently, she wasn't speaking. All she did was shake her head no or yes. What had happened to her, he had absolutely no idea. He wished that he could help her, but every time he did go to see her, she did exactly as Alfred told him. Her blue-green eyes were dull and haunted, and she would just stare ahead. She never made eye contact with anyone, and she didn't talk. Dick, at the moment, was on his way to see her once again. He was hoping that he would be able to get her to speak with him about what happened. Ever since he brought Jasmine back, he had been threatened to be crushed by the guilt that filled his very being. However, was it not guilt that lead to all of this happening? If he had just gone with her, she would be okay. But he didn't. He felt guilty to a point where it had been torture. Now, Dick was determined to move past all of that guilt. For Jasmine.

Walking into the room, Dick paused at the doorway. Jasmine was lying on her stomach, like always. It had been a miracle, Alfred said, that there wasn't any vital nerve damage done to her spine. She would be able to move just like before once her wounds had healed. However, at the moment, apparently any movement would be painful. Her head was turned to the side, her eyes focused on the window. The waning sunlight of the evening was streaming through it, and the faint sound of birds chirping came from the outside, since the window was open. A gentle breeze came in through the screen. Upon his entrance, she didn't look over, which he expected. The covers of the bed were draped up to her shoulders.

"Hey Jasmine," Dick spoke softly, walking over to her. There wasn't a response, though her eyes did shift down a little. He sighed quietly before sitting at the edge of her bed.

"I was hoping that we could talk," He breathed to her, figuring that it would be better to just be straightforward at this point.

When he didn't receive a response, he rubbed the back of his neck, "I know what you must have gone through was terrible, and scarring. I want to help you, Jasmine. I…if I had just gone with you when you asked, this wouldn't have happened. I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault."

Dick's eyes widened a little at the soft, barely audible, whisper. He watched as Jasmine moved her arms up, pushed her body up slowly so she could look over at him instead of the window, "Jasmine…"

"Can you carry me outside?" She asked quietly, "You're right. It's time we talked."

Dick was still shocked at the fact that she had simply spoken like this without hardly any push. After all this time of her being silent, it was relieving to hear her voice at the same time that it was alarming. Not only that, but her eyes held that same haunted look to them, though they were more lively from before, "Yeah…you'll need to climb onto my back though."

"That isn't a problem," Jasmine spoke, her voice a little louder than the whisper she had been speaking with. Dick studied her warily, not wanting her to hurt herself, but turned so that his back faced her, though he kept his head turned so he could watch her. If she was putting herself in any pain, then he was going to have them just speak here.

Jasmine paused for a moment, her lips pressed into a thin line as she gazed at Dick. Before long, she gave a sharp inhale of breath, as though gathering her courage, before carefully pushing herself up into a sitting position. She winced a little, but other than that, seemed fine. The blanket fell from her upper body. At the moment, she was wearing a loose shirt. The last time Dick had seen her, her bandages had been exposed. Barbara must have found a shirt for her to wear that wouldn't irritate her back or anything. As for her lower body, she was wearing regular sweatpants, which were also from Barbara. After hearing about the whole thing, the red-haired girl had immediately come over to help out, since they were all, well, men. Jasmine shifted over carefully and slowly until she was just behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and Dick reached back, taking her legs and drew them around him.

"Ready?" He asked. He felt Jasmine nod against his shoulder, before standing up, holding her legs securely. When he didn't feel a wince, or hear her make a small sound of pain, he began to walk out.

"How is your back?"

"Hurts like hell, but I'll live. Thank you, Dick. For saving me," Jasmine breathed out softly.

"Of course. I wasn't just going to let you die, you know. I plan on annoying you for a little bit longer," He teased her gently, glancing over at her. At the moment, her head was resting on his shoulder. He saw her beautiful eyes soften for a moment, that haunted look residing a little.

"I thought I was going to die. When I gained consciousness momentarily and you were carrying me, I figured I really was dead. I didn't think that I was going to make it, Dick. I'm so glad that I'm alive. There is still so much I want to do, and experience," She murmured. Dick was a little stricken at how serious she was. Typically, she bantered back. Still, Dick couldn't help but smile lightly at her response.

"No worries, Jasmine. I'll protect you, no matter what," He said to her.

"Psh. I can take care of myself you know," Jasmine muttered haughtily. Dick chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," He grinned, and was pleasantly happy to see the small smile coming over her as well. He then stepped outside, deciding to stroll around as they spoke. He didn't want to stop and have her get off, only for her back to hurt or something.

"How have you been, Dick?" Jasmine asked quietly after a few seconds of them being silent. Dick let out a small sigh, glancing at a bird as it flew off.

"Ridden with guilt, but…better than I was. I've decided that this guilt is only hurting you, and trust me, I'm tired of doing that. So while knowing what I did to you is hell, and I still have nightmares about it, I can deal with it much better than before now that I have a motivation to do so. Mostly, though, I've just been worried about you," He answered her firmly, though his voice took a softer edge at the end. When he was met with silence, Dick glanced at her, "What happened, Jasmine? What did Harley say to you?"

"…she didn't say anything that comes off as much of a surprise. Basically, she stated that I am her daughter, and that no one but her can love me. That everyone here is just using me for my fighting ability, and that if I join her by giving her Batman's name, we can be mother and daughter. It isn't what Harley said to me that is eating at me, Dick," Jasmine murmured. Dick had listened intently, growing angry at what Harley had said to her. However, when Jasmine said that it wasn't her mother who had placed that haunted look in her eyes, he blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that.

"What then, Jazz?"

Dick watched as Jasmine looked away from him, her eyes closing almost painfully. Whatever or whoever was causing this must be really important to her. She wouldn't react so strongly to it otherwise, "Harley didn't capture me in the first place. I was handed over to her. Red Hood took me first," Jasmine began in a wavering voice.

"Hood? What did he do to you, Jasmine?" Dick asked. His voice was low and dangerous, his blue-gray eyes narrowed darkly. Red Hood already pissed him off from what he had done to him, and ultimately, made him do to Jasmine. Now this? This criminal was definitely on Dick's hit list at the moment. Jasmine looked to him after he spoke, her eyes a little wide but pained as well.

"D-Dick…what I'm about to tell you is going to seem...impossible. Unrealistic, even. You're going to want to tell me that I'm wrong, but I promise you, it is the complete truth," Jasmine said in a small voice.

"Jasmine. Tell me. It's okay," Dick said firmly in response. Jasmine paused, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes before speaking.

"Red Hood is Jason. He's alive."

At Jasmine's words, Dick froze in his steps. At first, he couldn't gather his thoughts at this revelation of information. Even the birds seemed to stop singing, as though they were shocked at the news as well. A small breeze swept through, ruffling Dick's hair lightly and pulling him back from his thoughtless trance. Slowly, he began to shake his head. No. That wasn't possible. He watched Jason die. Joker shot him in the chest, and he didn't move. The boy who had been like his little brother died a year and five months ago at the hand of the Joker. Besides, Jason would never do what Red Hood did. He wouldn't have willingly hurt Jasmine like that, or put so many innocent people at danger in both Gotham and Bludhaven. Jason wouldn't have injected him with that serum and made him try to kill Jasmine. Not the Jason he knew. It just couldn't be true.

"Jasmine. We saw him die. Red Hood isn't Jason Todd," Dick said lowly.

"Dick, I swear to you. Red Hood _is_ Jason. I…I didn't believe it at first, and he even took his mask off in front of me. But it's him, Dick. That's how he knew who I am, and who you are. It's how he knew how to fight us. My father must have manipulated the video in some way to make it seem as though he died, but he had been with Joker until the venom killed him. I don't know what Joker did to Jason over the months Joker was locked up with him, but he is convinced that you and Bruce knew all along where he was, and never came to rescue him. He hates the two of you, and it trying to hurt both of you until you are begging him for death. Then, he wants to take over Gotham as the new Batman. He…he captured me to recruit me as his partner, saying that we are both killers and outcomes of my father, so we belong together. When I refused and tried to make him see reason, he knocked me out and, I assume, sent me to Harley to make me remember "who I really am,'" Jasmine explained in a rush.

Dick listened silently, his head a little ducked. He desperately wanted to say that Jasmine was wrong. That it had all been some hallucination and all in her head. But that much detail? Could she really have imagined that much acute detail? Still, it was extremely hard to imagine. It took him so long to come to terms with Jason's death. Now she was saying he was alive. That after all this time, he had been alive and held prisoner by Joker until the madman's death. That very thought made him sick to his stomach. While a part of him wanted what she was saying to be true, another part didn't. If Red Hood truly was Jason…then the Hell he would have gone through must have been unimaginable. He would have been convinced that he and Bruce had abandoned him to the sadistic clown, when they truly believed that he had been killed. Doing everything that Red Hood has accomplished, like creating a mind controlling drug and teaming up with Penguin and killing innocent people, just wasn't _Jason._ Still, he couldn't help but think back to when he had been fighting Red Hood. How his fighting style had been similar to his, and the small little comments he made during their battle. It even made him think back to the black hair than had been exposed from his mask breaking. Jason had black hair too.

"It can't be him," Dick muttered.

"Dick, please-"

"I'm taking you back so you can rest," Dick said, cutting her off. At this point, he didn't know what to think or believe about Red Hood. One thing was for certain, though. He was going after Red Hood. Tonight. He was going to learn his identity once and for all.

Jasmine didn't speak as he carried her back to her room. She probably didn't know what to say. He felt a little bad, since she had opened up to him and he denied what she told him. Of course, there was still a shred of doubt in his mind. The evidence of Red Hood being Jason Todd was…definitely of a large abundance. Right now, he just couldn't comprehend it. The only way he could completely believe it is if he saw Jason behind the mask of Red Hood himself. As he made it back to the room, he settled down on the edge of the bed, and released her legs. Jasmine pulled back from him, and he heard her make a small pained sound as she lied back down on her stomach. Dick swallowed hard and looked over at her, seeing the pained expression on her face. Slowly, he leaned over and pressed his lips to the top of her head gently.

"I'll see you later, Jasmine," He whispered to her.

As Dick pulled away, Jasmine caught his wrist, making him pause and look back. Her blue-green eyes were concerned and almost desperate, "Please be careful, Dick."

"Always."

Dick smiled lightly at her as he said it. She studied him for a moment before a soft sigh came from her lips and she let go of his hand. As she did, his eyes lingered on her just for a moment before he walked out of the room. Now it was time to find Red Hood. Even if it wasn't entirely nighttime at the moment, he really didn't care. Red Hood stepped way over the line. He could mess with Dick all he wanted, but the moment he targeted those that he loved, he was going to wish that he hadn't. If Hood did end up being Jason though…Dick wasn't sure what he was going to do or how he was going to react. At the moment, he didn't bother trying to figure that out. He planned on winging it if the situation arose.

Now, Dick went to his room, immediately undressing and pulling his Nightwing gear on. He attached his escrima sticks to his back last, then looked at his reflection as he held the mask in his hands. He stared into his own eyes, noting the dark anger within their depths. It wasn't an emotion that he was used to feeling. Usually, that was Bruce's primary emotion. Still, as much as Dick tried to say he was different, he could see the small similarities between himself and Bruce at times. There was definitely a huge difference between them, yes. However, it was not as dignified as Dick liked to make out it was. He shook his head a little to clear it before putting on the mask, hiding the emotion that had been expressed through his eyes.

Nightwing walked out of the room and headed towards the Batcave. He had no doubt that if Bruce were to hear of what he was planning, he would try to talk him out of it. It was much too late for that though. He was going through with this, no matter what. This fight with Red Hood was ending tonight, no matter how it went. Nightwing crossed his arms over his chest as he descended to the cave. He waited patiently until the elevator made it before stepping out and heading towards the vehicles. He was just planning on taking one of the batcycles. With how early the night was at the moment, he wasn't expecting Bruce, Alfred or Tim to be around. As he had assumed, they weren't in the Batcave, which was just fine to Nightwing. He didn't want the argument that was sure to follow. Right now, all he wanted to do was confront Red Hood, and end this once and for all.

Swinging his leg over one of the cycles, Nightwing revved the engine and then took off, not even bothering to place a helmet upon his head. He wasn't sure where to begin looking for Red Hood, but he figured that if the criminal was so obsessed with making him feel pain or killing him, he would appear. As Nightwing shot out of the Batcave and towards Gotham, the sun was a small sliver in the sky. The sky was a multitude of colors ranging from deep purple to blood red. Darkness was just beginning to dominate the land.

Now, Nightwing just had to choose the building he would wait for Red Hood on. He had no doubt that Red Hood would easily find him, no matter where he went in Gotham. So, he picked the place that seemed most appropriate, if Red Hood did end up being Jason. The Wayne Enterprises building. He took off there immediately, pulling his line launcher out when he got there. As the batcycle began to pass it, he placed the vehicle in autodrive before shooting the launcher. It shot up, attaching to the building and pulled him along. He only made it about halfway before gripping to the side of the wall securely. He then reshot the line launcher. This time, it grappled onto the top of the building, and once again, he shot up. Nightwing pulled himself onto the roof, standing up to his full height and turning to look over the city. The bright, illuminated letters behind him cast his body in a black silhouette as he stood before it. The sun was nonexistent at this point. The stars and the moon were slowly making their appearance in the sky, and the red was shifting to black, dark blue and dark purple.

Slowly, the darkness began to overtake the remaining light in the sky. It didn't really take too long other than a couple of minutes. Nightfall never did take much time to envelop the world. What Nightwing did wonder, however, was why it was taking so long for Red Hood to make his appearance. The Wayne Enterprises building was one of the tallest buildings in all of Gotham. With him standing before the glowing letters, his appearance upon the building was all too apparent. It would be hard to miss. However, as he heard the thud of feet behind him, he couldn't help as the grim smile curved slightly at the corner of his lips. Slowly, he turned around, settling his eyes on the one person he wanted to see at the moment. Red Hood.

"You showed up. I was beginning to think I scared you off," Nightwing spoke lowly, turning towards his opponent. A low laugh came from Red Hood.

"You scare me off? If I remember correctly, _Nightwing,_ you almost killed the woman you love on my command. If I know you, and trust me, I _do_ know you, what scares you most right now is yourself. Second, is _me_." He spoke in a snarky voice, despite the voice modulator.

"Well, I can't deny that a part of what you said is correct. However, I do not fear you, Red Hood. No, you've really pissed me off. I don't care what you do to me, but you went after Jasmine. That I can't let pass," He said, the anger evident in his voice. Red Hood peered at him for a moment before slowly tilting his head.

"You're lying to yourself. I terrify you! You're scared that the sound of my voice will take you over again. I am the focus of the nightmares you no doubt have at night. But don't worry. I'll put you out of your misery, Dick," Red Hood spat, pulling the two guns he had in the holsters at his waist.

Nightwing narrowed his eyes as he glared at Red Hood, trying to find some kind of resemblance between him and Jason. Hood couldn't be Jason. Jason wouldn't use guns, and he wouldn't have let Joker corrupt him like this. Still, just to be sure…he needed to say something that would trigger something, if he truly was Jason, "Wrong again, Red Hood. But you know what really scares me," He began, pulling the escrima sticks from his back slowly and activating the electricity, "is remembering a young boy I knew as Jason Todd being tortured by the Joker."

"You lie," Red Hood said, his voice rising. Hood raised his guns and shot them, but Nightwing quickly danced out of the way, dodging the bullets aimed at him.

"Why would I lie? Jason Todd was like my younger brother. I would have done anything for him. Receiving videos of his torture and being unable to find him day after passing day was Hell," Nightwing spoke, moving forward in a blur and striking forwards. He was a little surprised that he landed a hit on Hood's chest, making him stagger back.

"Shut up! You _never_ cared about Jason Todd!" Red Hood shouted, raising his guns and firing them rapidly. Nightwing cussed under his breath, somersaulting behind one of the letters. Sparks flew from where the bullets hit the large, electric Y he was hiding behind. He heard the click of the guns followed by a mutter curse, telling Nightwing Hood had run out of bullets.

"I more than cared about Jason Todd. I loved him like my own brother, and I miss him every single day since I lost him a year and five months ago," Nightwing spoke as he stepped out from behind the letter, lowering his escrima sticks. Hood's reactions to Jason…they matched what Jasmine had told him. That he was mad at him and Bruce, and believed that they had never cared about Jason.

"LIAR! You left Jason Todd to Joker! You let him get tortured!" Red Hood spoke savagely, before striking forwards rashly, dropping his guns and moving his arm back in a powerful punch.

"You always were rash when you didn't keep you anger in check," Nightwing began in a wavering voice, shifting to the side just in time to dodge the punch. He caught Red Hood's arm and twisted it behind him, kicking him behind the knee so Red Hood kneeled to the ground as he held his arm back, "Jason."

Red Hood was silent as Nightwing let go of him and stepped back. The masked man slowly rose to his feet and turned around. Then, he brought his hands up and undid the helmet before pulling it off, "So you were finally able to make the connection. I'm guessing Jasmine told you though. Something tells me you never would have figured it out on your own."

Nightwing stared at Jason, his hands shaking lightly when he saw him. Jasmine had been right. It was Jason. The J shaped scar on his cheek from when Joker branded him was there, and there was no mistaking the deep ocean blue color of his eyes. His black hair was kept a little short, though his bangs, which were swept a little messily to the side, were a little over his eyes. What was different in the younger boy was the hatred, sorrow and rage that swirled in his eyes like a compressed demon.

"Jason," Nightwing breathed quietly, slowly taking his own mask off, "why?"

"Why? I should be asking you the same question, Dick," Jason practically snarled, tossing the helmet aside and pulling out the knife that was strapped to his leg. He twirled it in his hand before holding it expertly.

"I don't know what you mean by that, Jason. We all thought you died. Joker sent a video where he shot you in the chest. We looked every single day until we got that video," He spoke, his voice surprisingly calm despite what he was feeling.

"You and Bruce knew where I was the entire time. You let Joker take me! You let him torture me for a whole goddamn year! Do you know what being in the Joker's mercy for an entire year is like, Dick? Well, allow me to give you small taste of it," He spoke darkly.

Dick let his mask drop to the ground before holding his escrima sticks up, quickly leaning back as Jason charged, swiping the knife out. It cut through the air where his throat had been, and Dick rolled to the side as Jason brought the knife in an arc, striking one of his escrima sticks towards his leg. Jason jumped, dodging Dick's attack, and Dick rose to his feet, taking a few steps back.

"I don't want to fight you, Jason. I promise you, I had no idea you were alive. If I had known you were still alive, I wouldn't have rested until I found you, let alone Bruce! Hardly anyone was able to sleep, and all we did was search for you. Crime rate rose because we simply didn't care about what they were doing. We cared about finding you as fast as possible, but we were never able to. Joker tricked us, Jason. He sent that video, and it really looked like he had murdered you," Dick said to him, and saw the humorless smirk come over his younger brother. His dark blue eyes shifted to Dick, looking almost black in the lighting.

"Right. You mean the video you and Bruce used to trick Jasmine to believe that I was dead? I've had about enough of your pathetic lies, Grayson. In fact, I've had just about enough of you. Your death will crush Bruce, considering you always were the favorite. Then, I'll save the city he's failed for years, and as I take his place as the Bat and push him off the mantle, I'll finally allow him to die, and my revenge will be fulfilled," He said lowly. Then, he came forwards again. This time, his knife slashed at him faster. It was harder to dodge, though Dick managed. However, Jason was able to fake out one move before slicing his arm. Dick grit his teeth at the feel of the hot metal kissing his skin before shaking his head. Jason had every intent to kill him, and he was good enough that if Dick kept holding back, then he was going to be killed. Of course, he was hoping to have some sort of break through with Jason until then.

"Where did you get all of this, Jason? You've let yourself get corrupted by Joker. This whole part you're playing? This isn't you. The Jason Todd I knew wouldn't have killed people, or put two whole cities at risk just to carry out some petty desire for revenge. You _know_ that Gotham needs the Batman. You wouldn't be able to take his place as this," Dick spoke to him levelly.

"Well, it's a little hard to keep your thoughts straight when Joker is the only face you see for an entire year, Dick. Still, you don't know the entire story. You see, I wanted you and Jasmine to get involved. When Jasmine first came into Penguin's club, I allowed her to hear the entire plan, and get you involved. I always had every intent of taking you over with my drug. I knew I would break you by making you do things you consider unthinkable. I didn't, however, intend for the distribution of the drug. When Penguin drove off after you and Jasmine came to the Nightclub, I sent my own men after Penguin to stop him, and ultimately, kill him. The men that came to that warehouse the night before loading in that shipment? Actors. I willingly gave you the information. You and Jasmine have played my game perfectly. What I didn't foresee was the fact that you actually maintained feelings towards Jasmine. She was supposed to join me against you and Bruce, but since she was dear to you, I had to sacrifice that. Of course, she ended up defeating you since you beat the drug, but I digress," Jason said sharply before continuing, "You can say I was corrupted by the Joker, but if you ask me, I've become _better_ than what I was. The only people who can change this godforsaken city are me and Jasmine, the products of the Joker, and you aren't going to stop me," He said, spreading his hands out a bit.

Dick listened, only to narrow his eyes as Jason explained what has really been going on. He played him and Jasmine like puppets in his plan. To hurt him, he had planned on making him his personal slave and do terrible things, then kill him. By all of this, Bruce would be hurt, and then Jason was going to take his city away from him as well. In the end, it would end up in both his and Bruce's deaths. Still, his plan had been foiled when it was Jasmine who won the fight against drugged up him. The way he was thinking though…it was so entirely flawed. It made Dick wonder what Joker had done to Jason. What he had said to him to make him think this way.

"Killing makes you no better than the criminals you are saying you plan on taking down. This plan of yours is insane, Jason. You say you want Jasmine by your side, but here's the truth. You almost killed her three days ago by handing her off to Harley," He stated coldly. He watched as Jason froze at Dick's words, looking shocked before his eyes hardened.

"No. That's not true."

"Oh, but it is. You handed her off to Harley, and do you want to know what Harley _did_ to her, Jason?" Dick began fiercely. He struck forwards, his escrima sticks blurring through the air as he directed them at vital points. Jason dodged and blocked the attacks, gritting his teeth as he had no choice but to be forced backwards by the onslaught of strong, quick swings, "She tied Jasmine up by her wrists, said the only person who could love her is Harley, then proceeded to cut her back _fifty times_. By the time I found her, Harley and cut her down from her bonds and left her on the ground to bleed to death. If I had gotten to her just five minutes later, she probably would have _died_. Right now, she's bedridden, because moving puts her in pain, Jason."

"No…that wasn't supposed to happen. Harley was supposed to remind her who she was, not _torture_ her!" Jason said, his voice rising. For the first time that night, Dick was able to see some of the Jason he knew.

"This insane plan of yours almost _killed_ Jasmine, Jason. And you are telling me that it is this city's saving grace? That you can be Gotham's protector when you sent the person you want to be your partner to their own death? You're wrong. This motivation is misplaced, and _you know it._ So _wake up_ , Jason! All you're doing is showing that you are an unstable weapon that Joker probably planned to make you into!" Dick shouted, landing a hard hit to Jason's stomach with his escrima stick, making him stagger back and gasp as the electricity ran through his body. He was doubled over for a moment, the upper part of his face cast in shadow. Slowly, he raised his head, his eyes blazing like blue fire.

"SHUT UP, DICK!" He basically screamed at him, only to launch at Dick faster than what he had expected after being electrocuted by his escrima stick.

Jason swung the knife in deadly, angry arcs that Dick was just barely able to dodge. However, this time, he combined punches with his free hand, escalating the toughness of the fight. Eventually, as Dick tried to land another hit, Jason snatched his left escrima stick and ripped it from his hand, only to instantly punch. It landed on Dick's cheek, making him stagger back. It was enough of an opening for Jason, who immediately began to beat him up with perfectly executed punches, the last one connecting with his temple and causing Dick to fall to the ground. Dick hardly had time to recover before Jason had stomped on Dick's stomach, making him cough, only to crouch over him, placing his knife against Dick's throat.

"I am NOTHING like Joker! I'm going to save Gotham from you and from Batman! You both left me to be killed, and replaced me within five months! _Five fucking months Dick!_ Jasmine is the _only_ person who can understand me! She's a killer, just like I am, and had to go through a similar hell! I know she is. We are alike! I…I never meant for her to get hurt like that. That wasn't my intent. If I had known Harley would have…" Jason trailed off and Dick slowly opened his eyes, seeing this overwhelming and unbearable pain in Jason's eyes. Dick could feel the blade shaking lightly against his throat. He could have disarmed Jason. Hell, he could have easily gotten him off and turned the whole tide of battle. But beating the shit out of him wasn't going to bring him back. It would only make him believe that he and Bruce didn't care even more.

"Jason. You should know just as well as I do that Harley went crazy after Joker's death. With Jasmine betraying Joker and siding with Batman…she wasn't going to make a stable choice when dealing with her, even if Jasmine is her daughter. I don't think you truly know who Jasmine is, Jason. Jasmine has tried to be better than her father. She wants to be more than what she was supposed to be. She sees the necessity in Batman being in Gotham, and me being in Bludhaven. She believes in what she does. Yes, perhaps she is the only person who will be able to understand what you went through, but she didn't let Joker define who she is. Maybe once she was a killer, but now, killer is a word that does not define her or her character. You have let Joker motivate your actions, Jason. But I think the Jason Todd I used to know is still there. You are a good man. You've just lost sight of reality," He said to him quietly, his blue-gray eyes taking a sad light within them.

"You stole her from me, Dick. I asked you to give me a chance, and you got together with her while Joker beat the living shit out of me. The only thing that I've lost sight of is the way that I used to see you and Bruce. Now I can see what the two of you truly are. Scum. Scum that needs to be cleaned away from the Earth. Joker doesn't motivate my actions, but he opened my eyes to who you and Bruce are," He said darkly, pressed the knife harder against his neck. Dick could feel a hot trail of blood slowly trail down his neck.

"I didn't steal her from you. Jasmine regarded you as a brother, and a friend. I do regret getting closer to her while you were gone, but it happened because we were leaning on each other. We kept each other going through our doubts, fears and grief over your disappearance. Don't you see, Jason? This whole thing…this is Joker's influence taking you over. You're better than this. If that doesn't convince you, then consider this. I could have pushed you off and disarmed you minutes ago. But I haven't. You're my _brother_ , Jason. To me, you aren't some criminal. You're Jason Todd. You're the boy that I helped train and teased around with. The one that I would have trusted to have my back in any situation. I ruined my relationship with Jasmine when I thought you died. It took me months to get over, and even then, I still wasn't completely over your death. There has always been a lingering sorrow in me, a missing void in my chest. Tim Drake can't replace you, Jason. No one can. You left an unfillable hole in everyone's lives when you were taken and believed to be dead. I don't care what you have done. You're my little brother. So go ahead. Kill me. I won't stop you if that is what is going to truly make you happy," Dick said to him strongly and firmly, meeting his eyes.

Jason gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. His breathes came out quickly, and the knife pressed against Dick's throat shook enough that he was almost convinced it would cut across his skin without Jason meaning to do it. After a moment, Jason pulled the knife from his throat then held it over his head, his blue eyes glinting murderously in the lighting of the Wayne Enterprises letters. However, something else caught Dick's attention. It was the glistening look Jason's eyes held. Was he…tearing up? He seemed to take a deep breath, then let out a shout. Dick squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the sharp pain of the knife. Instead, he heard a sharp clang next to his head, making him snap his eyes open. Jason had moved back from him and sat on the ground, one of his hands pressed against his face. However, his shoulders shook, and he could see the wet droplets on the ground before him where his tears had fallen. Slowly, Dick sat up, running his hand over his throat for a moment before rising to his feet.

"Jason…" He murmured, reaching out towards him. Jason swiftly caught his wrist in a painful grip, slowly rising to his feet and glaring at Dick through his tear-filled eyes.

"I don't want your sympathy. I didn't spare your life because you wanted me to."

Dick winced a little and was about to respond when Jason crumpled from a hard punch. Dick caught him before he hit the ground, and he looked up, seeing Batman. He probably hadn't heard what was happening, but rather, came in to help Dick out, figuring he was in trouble. If he knew it was Jason, he wouldn't have knocked him out, and he wouldn't look as calm as he was.

"You should have told us you were going out," Batman said gravely.

"I know."

Batman simply sighed at Dick's answer before glancing at Jason's back. He had yet to see his face, "Who is Red Hood?"

Dick didn't answer at first, and stared at the ground, "That's going to be a long story."


	16. Chapter 15-5

**This is a bonus chapter, so while it does pertain to the story, it doesn't really advance it either. I was just having a little fun for this one, which is in Jason's POV. So, you can read it if you want to, or you can just kinda ignore it as well. If you do read it, I hope that you enjoy it! I'm not sure when the next chapter is going to be posted, so this is here for entertainment for now! Thanks for reading!**

 **-Bookreader777**

Chapter 15.5

It was weird being back. Sure, not where he expected he would be for returning, but weird nonetheless. Nothing seemed to have really changed. It looked the same. He wasn't sure what he had expected. A huge change in structure? New devices? Who knows? Perhaps he had been hoping it had changed, because _he_ had changed. The world from his previous life had stayed the same while he was morphed into someone different, never again to be the same man he once was. The only thing the old scenery did for him was send a sense of infuriating nostalgia through him. He really didn't want the nostalgia. It just made everything more painful, more unbearable. It took him back to days when he could smile and laugh genuinely, and his brain wasn't poisoned. These days only had a numbered time, and so did his memories from them, since that nostalgia would only surface events in his life he would rather forget.

Jason Todd was technically "home." Behind bars and under the manor in the familiar cave system, but home nonetheless. From the cell he could make out details of the Batcave, like the vehicles(man did he miss those), the training area, the Batcomputer and the different mementos Bruce would sometimes keep after large cases. One, in particular, being a giant Joker card, which he was currently glaring at as he sat with his back against the rock wall with his arms hung loosely across his drawn up knees. Okay, he lied. There was one difference in the area. There was a case that held one of his previous Robin suits…just like Jasmine said there was. If he were entirely honest, he would rather be swarmed by dozens of armed criminals than stuck in this place. He really wasn't looking forward to getting spoken to. He didn't want to talk. He wanted Bruce's head. Nice, right?

 _But do I really? Would I pull the trigger, or would I falter and find myself unable to, like I had done with Dick?_ Jason thought to himself. He narrowed his eyes at the thought, pulling his cold blue gaze from the card and levelling them at the wall across from him. The doubt was definitely an annoying addition to his mind.

 _I don't know what I believe anymore. I don't know what is right. I can't deny the same rage towards both Dick and Bruce that still lies within me. That's the part of me that says I want them to suffer and beg for death. But at the same time, there is another part of me that is telling me Dick is right. Perhaps this was exactly what Joker wanted me to become. A hate-filled killer. I can't just…take back everything I've done though. I've already crossed the line multiple times._

It had been a while since Jason saw anyone. He assumed that Bruce came from behind and knocked him out. He was probably the only one who could slip past his tuned ears. When he woke up in the cell, he had been alone. However, after a few minutes, Alfred had walked up. Now Alfred was one of the only people who escaped his hatred and rage. He never blamed the butler for anything. Alfred had never been anything but nice towards him, almost like a kind of strict, British grandfather in a way. There hadn't been much speaking between the two. The old butler had seemed shocked to even be looking at Jason, let alone speaking with him. Jason had asked how Jasmine was, deciding to see if Dick had been telling the truth. Oh, here's the worst part! Dick told the truth. After this revelation, Jason had fallen silent, and Alfred had eventually walked away.

Jason had never meant for Jasmine to be tortured by Harley. He had assumed that Harley would simply ruff her up a bit, remind her who she was. The daughter of Joker and Harley Quinn. The one that was trained to be a weapon and a killer since she took her first breath in the world. Not try to kill her. Not cut into her back fifty times. He couldn't stop the guilt overflowing him. It had been a while since he felt that. Guilt. Sure, he had tried to get Dick to kill Jasmine, but he had hardly been able to watch the fight. He didn't want Jasmine dead. The only reason he had Dick try to kill her was because the asshole ended up actually loving her. Jason figured he would have moved on to someone else at this point, especially since he heard the change in her from when he "died." Hearing about her almost killing Harley, her cold attitude and the rough way she handled criminals had him convinced that the killer in her was starting to make its way out. Just like his had. He truly believed that the two of them were Gotham's saviors. They could keep crime in check using their brute force. Being the outcome of Joker, they knew evil. They understood why it had to be vanquished. Permanently.

Yes, perhaps it was odd that he would hold the daughter of the Joker and Harley Quinn in such high regard considering her father tortured him for a year. That being said, he had hated her the most until he heard she almost killed Harley, and that she had continued busting into abandoned warehouses and wandering around her father's territory after everyone else stopped looking for him. At least, that's what Joker said. He said they gave up on him. That they didn't care enough to keep looking. That he was all alone, and unloved. Merely a replaceable puppy to Batman. However, he remembered hearing Joker getting pissed when a henchmen came up, saying Batgirl was still appearing in his territory and destroying buildings. During the time, he had barely been able to focus on the conversation. His consciousness had been drifting in and out, since he had just gotten the shit beaten out of him. Each breath had hurt to take, and for the most part, he just wanted the sweet nothingness that being unconscious gave him. Before he passed out entirely, he recalled Joker saying to just kill her, since he didn't care about recapturing her at that point. Jason never did figure out why. He lost consciousness in the middle of Joker's line. As of now, it was impossible for him to deny the fact that he still had lingering feelings for Jasmine. Maybe it was simply lust, maybe not. To him, them being together just made _sense_. No one else had experienced anything like what he had gone through except for her. Like he told Dick, she was the only one who could honestly understand him and what he went through. No one else had a clue what it had been like.

It was the sound of the elevator coming down and opening in the Batcave that caught Jason's attention. His eyes slowly shifted from the wall to outside of the cell. He kept his face carefully guarded as the footsteps got closer. Incidentally, he was unable to see who was coming with how he was positioned. If Jason were entirely honest, he was just too damn lazy to get up and move to a different angle to see the person. He was about to see them anyways, even though he would prefer not to see anyone except Alfred. Now if it was that new kid, he was almost certain he would reach through the cells and strangle the little shit. He hated his replacement with a burning passion. The only reason he wasn't dead right now was because he avoided Batman. When he confronted him, Jason had wanted him to already be dying inside. He wanted to see the Old Man's pain, and have him watch as he killed his new little Robin. Though, he would admit, it seemed a little wrong for him to kill the new Robin. There was a part of him in his own thoughts even that faltered at the thought of it. Why should he want to inflict pain upon another Robin? Was this what Dick had meant about him acting upon Joker's influence? Has he truly been acting like Joker all this time? He wasn't going to lie, the thought horrified him. However, he didn't get much more time to pick at the thought in his mind as his visitor made themselves known. It was his _favorite_ person. Absolutely fantastic.

"Jason."

"Bruce."

There was a long silence after the one-word exchange. Jason stared at the man he had considered as his father coldly and almost hatefully, feeling the familiar blaze of anger rising in him, followed by the pain of knowing that he had always been nothing to the man. He had been nothing more than a random street kid he took in to keep off the streets and use to his own benefit. He abandoned him to be tortured. He always told him that if he was ever captured, he just needed to keep the villain talking to give him some time to appear. But he never came. Jason had desperately hoped for him to appear and beat Joker up and save him. He left him to die. Father of the year, right?

"Dick told me everything," Bruce began lowly, and Jason smirked. Like Dick actually knew anything.

"That's an overstated assumption."

"I didn't know."

"Don't give me that shit," Jason growled, looking away from him and glaring holes into the wall across from him, "You knew. The entire time, you knew." Behold: The Greatest Detective in the World!

"No, Jason, I didn't," Bruce said quietly, slowly walking closer to the cell. Jason narrowed his eyes, not wanting Bruce anywhere near him at the moment. However, he made no attempt to move from his corner. He did clench his fists, but it wasn't like that accomplished anything. Wouldn't that be great? Being able to solve your problems by clenching fists? Ha, he wished.

"You know. That's kind of funny. What is it you always told me? "Just keep them talking, Jason. I'll always save you." Well, you didn't show up. I waited, and waited, and waited and you left me, Bruce. You left me to _Joker_ ," He spat, turning his eyes to him hatefully, "for an entire _year_."

"I thought you were dead-"

"Yet you didn't look for a body. I wasn't important enough for that, was I? You didn't even kill Joker in revenge. You just let him continue to kill people, and ruin this city and the lives of innocents. It was just a giant joke! A little game of tug-of-war. He kept pushing your limits to see how far you'd go. I thought that you cared about me enough, that if he took me away from you, you would _never_ let him live. That it would go over the line. But no. You allowed him to live, and he took over Arkham Asylum, and tried to kill you when Arkham City kept all the villains contained. The only reason he died was because of his own destructive plan of taking the Venom. You? You probably would have saved him if you could, even though for all you know, I was dead. So what does that tell me, Bruce?" He demanded sharply.

"I didn't kill Joker because it would have been too easy, Jason. Do you have any idea how much I thought of it after seeing the video of you dying? But if I had allowed myself to give in to my pain and my anger, then how would I be any different from Joker? Yes, I should have looked for your body, but I was so overcome by grief that…I just gave up. I failed you, Jason. I failed you when I believed you were dead, and I failed you now for being tricked so easily. I'm sorry," Bruce said in a pained voice.

" _Sorry_ doesn't cut it. _Sorry_ doesn't give me back the year I was tortured, and a worthless, meaningless word such as that doesn't make me hate you any less. Everything you've said to me is a lie. You never cared. I was just a tool in your game of vengeance. When I got taken, I wasn't important enough to save. You simply replaced me after five months. The only one who kept looking was Jasmine, but that video that you claim to have watched me die, you made it to show Jasmine to stop looking for me. Joker showed that much to me," He spoke coldly.

" _Joker_ told you that?"

"He told me plenty of things."

"And you believe them?"

Jason paused at this, before shaking his head and looking away, "I don't know."

Bruce was silent, and Jason didn't look over at him. He just kept staring at the ground angrily. Well, there was more than just anger, but he never was one to try and figure out emotions. At least, not recently. He ignored the sharp sting of pain, the heaviness of sorrow, the suffocating feel of betrayal, the blurred mist of confusion and many others, and lifted the anger and desire for revenge inside of him. It was easier to deal with. As footsteps rang out once more, leaving from his cell, Jason hoped that Bruce was going to be leaving him alone. He relaxed a little bit at first…until he heard _his_ voice.

" _Who is it that you hate, Jason?_

"Turn it off," Jason demanded, his body trembling faintly. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to tune it out. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to relive the hell within his own mind. He remembered this day very vividly.

" _Batman_." Hearing his own shattered, broken voice made him wince.

"This is the video Joker sent us, Jason," Bruce's voice rang out. Jason swallowed hard, his breathes coming out shakily. Reluctantly, he slowly looked over, his eyes focusing on the screen of the Batcomputer.

" _Excellent! Do you hear that, Bats? The kid is all mine, and I can do whatever I want to him."_

Jason felt like he was going to throw up as he stared at the video. It made him sick to his stomach. He watched as the man who haunted his nightmares danced over to the him strapped to the chair. That old Robin suit he used to wear with pride was torn up. His hair was long and messy and his head ducked. His skin was dirty, covered in dirt, blood and bruises. His voice had a hoarse tone to it because of all the screaming he did during the torture. Joker looked just how he remembered him. Haunted white face, blood red lips, vivid green eyes, that stupid purple suit and the demented grin plastered on that evil face of his. The pain he went through before this little session had been horrendous. Jason couldn't help but lift his fingers to the J shaped scar on his cheek and trace along it for a moment.

"Turn it off!" Jason shouted at Bruce, slamming his fist against the metal bars and ignoring the pain that sprang up. The sound echoed through the caves loudly before fading. However, Bruce's eyes simply hardened and he stiffened, but made no move to turn the video off.

" _You know, I never asked. What's the secret? Who is the bat? Tell me!"_

" _Screw y-"_

The gunshot that then sounded out made Jason jump, and he watched himself fly back in the video. His eyes before being shot had been cold and full of hatred. Really, not as different as he had them now. He knew what would happen next. Joker would kick him back awake, and take that goddamn crowbar and continue the beating. He had placed a bulletproof vest on him before this when he had been unconscious. The bruise that he had received from the bullet had been pretty terrible, but honestly, had been better than the majority of the other injuries he suffered from. The video would show the next part of the torture any second now…but that's not what happened. Joker turned to face the camera.

"What…" He muttered hoarsely.

" _The boy was rather annoyingly stubborn. I may have let him live if he had just did as he was told but…he proved to be a loyal little puppy to you until the end, didn't he Bats? Let this be a lesson to you not to drag you little friends into this crazy little game of ours."_

Jason gripped onto one of the bars with one hand so tight his knuckles turned white. He tried to come up with a logical explanation with how this video was still the one shown to Jasmine to trick her. Nothing came up. Bruce and Dick couldn't have been able to get every single detail. The whole thing had been set up by Joker to send to them and fake his death. Dick and Bruce didn't lie…they did receive a video where he "died." No. This couldn't be true. It couldn't be. Bruce left him. Bruce only saw him as a replaceable dog. Nothing more. Dick pretended to care. They knew where he was, but they didn't save him. They didn't even try to take revenge on Joker. They never cared. He watched as Bruce walked back towards the cell after turning the Batcomputer off. This time, Jason clumsily scrambled to his feet and backed as far as he could into the cell.

"Stay the hell away from me!" He shouted at Bruce. Bruce didn't answer. Instead, he ignored Jason's demand, unlocked the cell door and walked over to him slowly. Jason's hands moved to his waist, where his guns usually were. Of course, they weren't there. Instead, he balled his hands into fists and lashed out, hitting Bruce in the jaw. The older man staggered back, raising his hand to his lips and drew it over them to wipe away the blood. Instead of being discouraged, he straightened up and began to walk over to him again. Jason pressed himself back against the wall.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I'LL-"

Jason cut off abruptly as Bruce, having stopped right in front of him, rested on hand on the back of his head and gently pulled him to his chest, his other arm wrapping around his back. He held him securely, and Jason's eyes widened in shock, his lips a little parted. At the moment, his forehead was pressed against Bruce's shoulder. Every emotion in him was conflicting and shredding each other apart. One part screamed to push him away and kill him here and now. It tried to convince him that this was all some manipulative set-up. The other part wanted to cry hysterically and accept the fact that Joker had, indeed, tried to make him into a destructive killer and lied about Bruce and Dick. He reinforced what he said through the torture. He played with Jason's mind, and forced him to accept fiction as reality to make him into a weapon.

For the first few moments, Jason just stood there, his arms at his sides as Bruce held him. Then, like the strong man he was, a sob tore through him and his eyes blurred with tears as they spilled down his cheeks. Looks like one side won over. For now. Jason clutched Bruce's shirt tightly as he released all that pain and sorrow that had built up within him for much too long. Bruce was silent the entire way through, just holding him like the son he was to him. Jason didn't know how long they stood like that, but Bruce eventually pulled back. Jason glanced away as he did, swiping his arm over his eyes in a moment of embarrassment. He hated the fact that he seemed so weak at the moment, especially in front of Bruce.

"Stay here, Jason. Let me help you. This is your home," Bruce said to him.

Jason glanced over at him, having regained his composure, and drew his fingers through his black hair, "I appreciate the effort, but I don't want help."

"I can't ignore the fact that you have killed people, Jason. You need-"

"Therapy?" Jason spat sharply before shaking his head, "If I wanted _therapy_ I'd be in Arkham Asylum. I'm not about talking about my feelings, Bruce. I can deal with this myself."

"That's the thing, Jason. You haven't been dealing with it," Bruce said lowly, and Jason's anger flared.

"Just like you didn't deal with your parents' deaths?" He lashed out. Bruce narrowed his eyes at that.

"This has nothing to do with me. It has to do with you, and doing what is in your best interest."

"My best interest isn't therapy, and it isn't staying here. Honestly Bruce, if I see that new kid, I might lose it. This is the _last_ place I need to be right now," Jason said coldly.

"So what do you propose I do, Jason?" Bruce asked, clearly frustrated.

"Let me go."

"You know I can't do that. Not when you are this mentally…" Bruce trailed off, and Jason frowned deeply. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

"Gone?" Jason finished lowly.

While he didn't like hearing it, He supposed that it was true. He wasn't right mentally. That was just it. Joker messed him up, using torture and fake, yet believable, evidence to put truth to his claims. Not only that, but he had killed people with hardly batting an eyelash. Given, all those people had been criminals, but to Bruce, it was still as bad as him killing someone innocent on the street. The thing was, Jason just wasn't the same anymore. This changed him completely, and he knew that no amount of therapy was going to change that. This was who he was now. If he were to be completely honest, he still believed that killing criminals was the way to go. At least, the big bad criminals. Sure, there had to be some limitations, but in the end, death was what those bastards deserved. That's what Bruce refused to see and comprehend. With his way of thinking, the two of them would constantly be at each other arguing, and Jason wasn't up for that. Wayne Manor would always be his home, but he had no place here either. There was still so many things he still needed to figure out and come to terms with. At the moment, he was lost on what he should do.

"I didn't say that."

"But that's what you meant."

"Jason…I get that you are in pain. If you allow me to help you, I can try to take it away. Joker altered your thought process, and now you need to see the truth," He said in a softer voice.

"There is no help for me anymore, Bruce. I'm way too far gone at this point," Jason sighed, and felt Bruce rest his hand on his shoulder.

"That's not true."

"Yes, Bruce, it is. You want me to be someone who died a long time ago. I'm not the same Jason Todd you knew. I can't erase the torture I went through, and therapy sessions aren't going to make me the man I was before Joker fucked me up. You need to accept this reality," Jason said stonily. Bruce stared at him for a moment before looking away. Jason could see the conflict in his eyes. At one point, he may even have had a good idea of what he was thinking, but those days were gone now.

"Consider it, Jason. Please."

Jason sighed, but he knew that all Bruce wanted to do was help him. There wasn't a different alternative in this. The thing was, he already had his mind made up. Bruce wouldn't leave him alone unless he agreed to consider the whole help and staying home thing, and maybe, he would think about it some more. Besides, he needed to speak with Jasmine, so staying a small while longer wouldn't be too bad, he supposed. Well, if he could handle it. He couldn't count how many times the thought of coming back to the manor had enticed his mind when he was captured by Joker. That is, until his mind was warped. Now that he was here, he might as well enjoy it, though he wouldn't be surprise if he stayed locked in the cell. He did just threaten the present Robin.

"Yeah, fine." He grumbled.

Bruce seemed to study him for a moment before nodding and turned his back without a word. Jason followed him with his eyes as he walked out of the cell, though much to Jason's surprise, left the cell door open. Looks like he was being granted freedom. By the way Bruce faltered after walking out the doorway, Jason concluded that even he was uncertain about the action. However, Jason couldn't deny the small shred of happiness at the trust being placed in him. Now he just had to uphold it.

As Bruce left the Batcave, Jason slowly walked out of the cell, pushing his hands in his pockets as he walked over to the case holding his old Robin suit. He stood before it, gazing at his reflection as it filled the role of Robin. There was a small draw to it that Jason couldn't deny. Why not be Robin again? He was sure Bruce would accept, and that new Robin (What was his name again…oh yes! Tim Drake), would probably be something else. Still…he tore his eyes from his reflection and at his Red Hood helmet before turning back to the case. He shook his head a little, a humorless smirk coming over his lips as he turned his back on it. Reflections aren't reality.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Keeping track of time had been close to impossible. Jasmine had been drifting in and out of her mind for the past week. At least…Dick said it had been a week since he carried her outside. She figured that he was telling her the truth and didn't question it. The pain meds she was on to deal with her back were strong, and they typically knocked her out, or at least made her really out of it. In fact, she hardly recalled what she did or said if she was awake during the pain meds. According to Dick, she was pretty adorable and funny, but she wouldn't know. Finally, after ten days, she was able to actually get on her feet and walk around with hardly any pain. Sure, it still hurt here and there, but she never said it did. Lying in bed wasn't fun. All she wanted to do was get back to training and go back out on the streets as Batwoman.

Speaking of never saying it hurt, Jasmine's back had actually flared up terribly after Dick had carried her outside. She wasn't sure why, since it had hardly moved, but when he left, it felt like each wound had been throbbing, each one agonizing with every little pulse. That was when Alfred had given her stronger pain meds, since it had been so painful that she wouldn't eat and just lied there and tried not to cry out from the pain. Sleep had been near impossible as well. She figured that Dick had been told that the pain had gotten worse, but she never said when it had sprung up. He didn't need to blame himself for anything else. He had enough on his mind. Now, though, the pain in her back had dulled down considerably. It was hardly painful, much to her delight.

At the moment, Jasmine was sitting at the edge of her bed with Dick beside her. No one told her what happened with Jason, who she figured Dick went after the day she told him he was Red Hood. She did notice the bruising on the side of his face and the small bandage around his neck, telling her they did fight. It just didn't seem like a good time to bring it up, especially if it had ended badly. Well, now that she really thought about it, perhaps she didn't want to hear the outcome in fear that it had gone extremely badly. She had finally been able to come to terms with everything about Jason, and the haunted look in her eyes was gone. Her mother…she didn't think about that mess. That was for another day.

"Are you sure standing will be okay?"

Jasmine looked over at Dick, who seemed relatively worried as he gazed down at her. He's been at her side through all of it, and she owed him so much for his support, "I'm 80% sure!" Jasmine spoke nonchalantly.

"What happens if you're in the 20%?" Dick asked, and she beamed at him. Jasmine lightly kissed him, feeling him smile a little against her lips.

"Let's not think about that!" Jasmine smiled after pulling back. Her optimism pulled a sigh from him, though he gazed at her with warm, gentle eyes.

"Your lack of concern is alarming, you know," He chuckled lightly, slowly standing up and stepping in front of her.

"And yet, you're still going with it," She winked at him. She took his hand as he offered it to her and shifted over until her feet touched the ground.

"Well, you're too stubborn for your own good, so you would try this whether I was here for it or not. With these options, I figured the best one would be being here in case you need help," He said to her with a light smile.

"I am _not_ too stubborn for my own good! I call it spirited," She smirked a little bit. Dick just chuckled and shook his head.

"Mhm," He drew out before meeting her eyes and becoming serious once more, "Alright, are you ready?"

"Yeah…just give me a moment," Jasmine breathed softly. She felt him squeeze her hand gently as she gathered up her courage.

Yeah, it wasn't a huge deal on the surface. It was only standing after an injury. For Jasmine though, it was a big deal. She has never been hurt to such an extreme that she hasn't been able to get on her feet, let alone having been out this long. A part of her was terrified that maybe Alfred had misjudged it. That there was some permanent damage done to her spine, which would alter the way she walked forever, and maybe bring an end to her career as Batwoman. She also had to consider the fact that she would have to rebuild her strength with training as soon as she was able to start. There was no doubt that she would need to refresh her abilities after being out for ten days. With one glance down at her legs, Jasmine internally pleaded for them to work like they were supposed to.

Gripping Dick's hand, Jasmine used it as leverage to pull herself up. She was nervous as she rose up to her full height, the shifting of her back hardly hurting, which was a good sign. So far, so good. Her legs could hold her weight standing. Slowly, she let go of Dick's hand before giving a cocky little smile. As she took a step forwards, she was about to give an arrogant remark, only for her knee to give out as her foot hit the ground. Thankfully, Dick quickly caught her as she fell forwards and helped her back up.

"You okay?" He asked immediately. Jasmine looked up at him, seeing the worry in his eyes. A small wavering smile came over her, and she nodded.

"Yeah. My legs just aren't used to it yet. Let me try again," She said quietly. She knew that Dick wasn't exactly a fan of the whole thing, but she was desperate to be back on her feet again. Once again, she took a step forward, though Dick stayed close to her just in case. This time, however, her knee stayed in place, easing the fear that had started rising inside of Jasmine. She could walk. It had just been a momentary weakness in her knees after being off of her legs.

"See? Told you there was nothing to worry about," Jasmine said weakly, though the relief in her voice was obvious.

"I guess you proved me wrong then," Dick said to her quietly. Jasmine glanced at him. From the soft tone of his voice, she could tell he had been trying to play along, but was also relieved that nothing had gone badly, and was still a tad worried. She supposed they both had their doubts about the entire thing, but in the end, it worked out well. Thankfully. Still, she supposed she put him through enough worry as it was and turned towards him, resting her hands on her hips.

"If it makes you feel better, you can carry me if you w-" Jasmine began with a casual roll of her eyes, but didn't even finish the statement before Dick swung her into his arms. While it had been a fast transition, he was being very careful when resting his hand anywhere near her back. His sudden reaction was enough to make her laugh lightly, and she kissed his cheek, "You worry way too much, Grayson."

"I'm not taking any chances with you, Jazz. If you even see a punching bag, you'll probably start claiming how you're in top form to start training again then run off," He chuckled, walking out of the room. Jasmine huffed lightly, but wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Damn. My plans are foiled."

"Well of course they are. Nothing gets past the great Dick Grayson."

"Is that so?" Jasmine laughed, and Dick smiled down at her.

"Don't deny the inevitable, Quinn," He said, walking outside. It was a nice day out. The sun shone brightly in the sky and filled the air with warmth. Birds sang their unique melodies, and the faint scent of flowers drifted on the wind.

"I'm only trying to show you the truth through your overwhelming denial," She stated in response, offering him a smirk.

"Me? In denial? I'm insulted," Dick said, feigning to be hurt. He paused at the base of her tree and carefully set her down. Really, she would have been fine even if he wasn't being this careful and gentle, but it was sweet so she didn't say anything. As he sat next to her, she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Oh, don't be insulted. Even the great Dick Grayson needs to have a weakness," She teased lightly, looking up at him from under her eyelashes.

"Ah, but denial isn't my weakness," He murmured as turned his head down to hers. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh of content as he ran his fingers through her hair gently.

"It is one thing and one thing only," He said in a hushed voice, moving his hand from her hair and gently tilted her face up, peering into her eyes, "It's cereal."

"Richard Grayson, you tease!" She accused with a laugh, playfully pushing him back from her. He chuckled at her reaction, lightly bumping his shoulders against hers as he came back from the push.

The two of them sat there in silence for a while, though it wasn't awkward. Dick held her right hand, moving his thumb along the back of it lightly as he stared off in the distance. Jasmine looked up at the sky with a calm and relaxed smile playing on her lips. It was peaceful outside. Still, she knew that she would have to break it eventually, and ask about what happened with Jason. The entire thing couldn't have been easy for Dick. He had taken his death so hard…and for Jason to then come out and say Dick never cared, and allowed him to be taken and tortured, must have been beyond painful. Not that she blamed Jason. The boy had gone through hell, and no one would have come out of that mentally fine. Joker put lies in his head, and basically forced Jason to accept them as truths. No, the boy wasn't at fault in any way. Jasmine could only hope that Jason would be able to come back from that torture, and the mindset her father had forced upon him.

"Was I really adorable and funny when I was awake during the pain meds?" Jasmine asked, glancing over, completely chickening out from asking about Jason at the moment. She'd need to ease into it.

At the question, Dick's lips turned up in amusement and he looked back down at her, "You have no idea."

"Dick, what did I do?" She asked with a light smile, and she noticed him shift his eyes away in thought before a small laugh pulled from him.

"Let's see…this one time I was lying beside you, and you were rambling about how coffee was going to take over the world, and that we needed to start a rebellion to fight off its evil clutches on humanity."

"I said what?" Jasmine breathed and Dick grinned.

"That's not all. I told you that Tim drank coffee religiously, and you got really upset, and kept telling me that we needed to save Tim, and etcetera. In the middle of all of that, you gave this giant gasp, looked at me with really wide eyes and said that Tim was actually the leader of the evil coffee organization."

"Oh my God." Jasmine groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose while Dick obviously tried to muffle his small laughs.

"So, I tried to coax you while you spoke about the pain of his betrayal. Then you randomly curled up against me, said you were a cat, giggled, then fell asleep," Dick said, holding back his laughter but she could see it dancing in his eyes.

"Wait, what?"

"Those were my exact thoughts at the time."

"That was only one time?" Jasmine asked, her face flushed at all of this.

"I have about seven different stories I could tell you," Dick spoke and her eyes widened.

"Seven?! New rule, let's never speak about what happened when I was on the pain meds," She said embarrassed and Dick laughed.

"I promise nothing," He stated with a wink and she sighed.

"One of these days I'll have something to hold over your head that will cancel out all seven of those stories!" She exclaimed and he gave a slow, arrogant smile she couldn't help but deem undeniably attractive.

"If you say so."

Jasmine glared at him playfully, to which he simply kissed her forehead and drew her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head against her shoulder. They were quiet for a moment, and Jasmine suspected that Dick was trying to work up the nerve to tell her about Jason as well. The topic was the elephant in the room, really. So, she worked up her courage before speaking.

"You fought Jason?"

"Yeah."

Jasmine paused a little and turned her head to where his was against her shoulder, "What happened?"

She heard Dick give a deep breath, "He tried to kill me, but couldn't land the fatal blow. He didn't know that Harley was going to cut your back like she had, and he seemed to feel terrible about it. I tried to talk some sense into him, which was what stayed his hand. At least…I think it was. Bruce came in at the end and knocked him out, and I had to explain everything. Bruce took it pretty hard, but…he's back, Jasmine. Jason is here at the manor," He spoke in a quiet voice. Jasmine's eyes widened at the news.

"He…he's here?"

"Yes. He…doesn't talk much to anyone, and avoids Tim like the plague. I tried to speak with him once, but he only apologized for his actions then walked off before I could say much of anything. I think Bruce is the only one who has actually spoken with him, and maybe Alfred. I think it's odd for him to be back here. What I do know is that he wants to speak with you, but only if you're comfortable doing it," Dick said to her quietly.

Jasmine was quiet for a moment before speaking up, "Of course I want to speak with him," She said, "How are you on the whole thing, Dick?"

"I don't know. I'm glad he's back. Hell, I'm beyond glad he's alive and back. I get that he had gone through torture, and everything he did was because of that. Still, hearing him say that I never cared about him, and how much he hates me…damn did that hurt," He breathed quietly before looking over at her with a small smile, "but don't worry about it, Jasmine. I have to doubt that we'll be able to get past everything that happened with time."

Jasmine studied him for a moment, trying to see if he was just saying the last part for her benefit. However, he seemed to be telling the truth. There was a determined look shimmering within the depths of his eyes that was all too familiar with her, and she smiled and nodded. She didn't doubt that they would be able to get past what happened as well.

"Speaking of," Dick murmured, and she felt him pull back from her and get to his feet. Her heart raced as she looked up, her eyes fixing on Jason. He was leaning his shoulder against the entrance of the manor, his hands shoved into his pockets, "It seems you have a visitor."

Jasmine stood up from her sitting position, and watched as Jason slowly pushed off from the doorway and stepped towards them, though he paused only a few feet away, his eyes shifting to Dick for a moment, as though asking permission. It was almost weird to see, since for as long as she's known Jason, he never had really been the "ask for permission" type. His eyes were carefully guarded, and she couldn't tell what he was feeling or thinking. Dick offered a small, friendly smile towards him, though Jason didn't return it. Jasmine watched as Dick walked by him, pausing as he passed and rested his hand on Jason's shoulder in what she believed to be a reassuring way. Jason seemed to tense under the touch at first, then slowly relaxed, though his head ducked a little. It was a silent exchange that held a large amount of meaning. At least, to Jasmine it was. It only lasted a few seconds before Dick pulled his hand away and walked into the manor, disappearing from view. At first, there was only silence between Jason and Jasmine. He slowly lifted his head and met her blue-green eyes with his ocean blue. She could tell he was nervous about speaking with her.

"Hey…Jasmine," Jason said quietly and slowly. Jasmine stared at him for a moment before walking up to him. He straightened up, and she could practically see him bracing himself for something bad, like a slap or for her to start screaming at him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him closely.

"It's good to see you, Jason," She whispered.

Jason didn't return the hug right away. Jasmine stood there, her forehead pressed against his shoulder as she hugged him close to her. After a few moments, she was unsure if he really was going to return her embrace. It seemed that just as she doubted it, she felt Jason's arms slowly come around her, though his hands rested just barely on her back, as though he were afraid of touching it in the first place.

"I'm so sorry, Jasmine," She heard him mutter lowly. Jasmine shook her head, pulling back so she could look at him. His eyes were focused downwards, staying away from her own gaze. There was almost this tortured look to him, and there was evident shame that he was trying to conceal.

"There's nothing to apologize for,' She said softly, which only pulled a small scowl from him.

"There is everything to apologize for, Jasmine. I almost killed you. Twice."

"You were influenced by what Joker did to you, Jason," Jasmine said quietly and he sighed, glancing away coldly.

"Yeah. Sure. That doesn't make anything that I did right. It doesn't justify anything. All that does is give me an excuse to exempt myself from all the things that I did. If I were any common criminal, I would have been shipped off to Arkham Asylum by now, and you know it Jasmine," He spoke thinly before sighing loudly and pinching the bridge of his nose, "I didn't come here to be an asshole to you."

"You're not being an ass. The thing is, Jason, everything you did is done now. It happened, and there isn't anything you can do to change it. The only thing you can do is move on. I forgive you, Jason. You had no way of knowing Harley would have done what she did to me, and as for the other occurrence, you weren't in your right mind. You were forced to believe certain things from the Joker. If anyone else had to go through what you did, they probably would have been doing the same things. No one could go away from a year of torture with my father and be okay. Not you, not me, not Dick, and not even Bruce," She said to him firmly. Jason looked over at her as she spoke, staring into her eyes silently, his expression unreadable. A small humorless smile slowly came over his features.

"How do you do it, Jasmine? How can you cope with it? After the meeting with your mother, living with your parents...how are you okay and not out of your mind? If we traded places, I'm convinced that you would still be the same Jasmine. You say you would have lost it, but I'm not so sure," He said, taking a step towards her and resting his hands on her shoulders, his blue eyes filling with an overwhelming sense of pain, "I…I see him everywhere. I can't sleep. All I have is nightmare after nightmare and each one has _him_ in it. When I close my eyes, there are times when I'm afraid to open them, because I think my freedom was simply a dream, and I'll wake up strapped to a chair or hanging from a ceiling with _him_ in front of me. I see something as simple as the letter J, like the one burned into my cheek, and _his_ laughter rings in my head like a demented echo. It's like I can't get away from that lunatic even if he's dead. So how do you do it, Jasmine?" Jason spoke shakily. Jasmine's heart broke at how tortured and shattered he looked.

"I didn't for a long time. I gave up when I was with them. I accepted that my only path was to be like them, and that I was born to be evil. It wasn't until Dick showed up and told me differently that I really came out of it. It hurts, Jason. I get that. I still hear screams, laughter, and gunshots. I still see blood, death and destruction. I don't think it ever truly leaves. The thing I figured out is that the longer you blame yourself and let it define you, the more it festers. You need to come to peace with everything that happened to you, and let me tell you, it's going to take a long time. But you can do it, Jason. I know that you can," She said to him seriously.

"Come to peace with everything, huh?" Jason muttered, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"People do it in their own ways, I think. I got away from the situation and had my eyes opened to a whole new world that I didn't know I could be a part of," Jasmine explained.

Jason was silent for a moment, as though registering this, before looking away and staring at the horizon, "I see. I think what I need to do is get away from Gotham."

"Jason…are you sure?" Jasmine breathed.

"Yeah. There's too many triggers here. Too many painful memories. If I'm going to eventually find…peace…I need to get away from here and figure things out on my own. I've actually been planning on doing this anyways," He explained, slowly returning his eyes to her.

"Bruce isn't going to like it," She pointed out and Jason chuckled light before shoving his hands into his pockets.

" _Bruce_ isn't going to _know_ about it. I'm just going to leave one night. Look Jasmine, I know Bruce wants to help me, but he _can't_. The Jason Todd he knew, and everyone knew, is dead, whether they like it or not, and I don't even know _who_ I am right now. I need to figure that out, and I can't do that when everyone is pressuring me to be someone…I'm just not anymore," He explained with a sigh. Jasmine nodded slowly at what he said, offering a gentle smile.

"I understand. You better tell me when you leave though, or I'm going to be absolutely pissed at you," She stated, wanting to lighten the mood. Jason cracked a smile at her statement.

"Yeah, will do," He said before looking a little awkward, "By the way. This new Robin…what is your take on him?"

Jasmine studied Jason as he asked this question, but he his face didn't give away his emotions, "Tim? He's a good kid, and an excellent observer. He's wicked smart, and learning quickly. If you spoke with him, you might actually like him."

"I watched some clips of him training. That's as much as I need to know," Jason answered gruffly before crossing his arms over his chest and meeting her eyes, "Do you approve of him?"

Jasmine hesitated for just a moment at his question. She was unsure how he would react at her answer, but there wasn't any way she was going to lie, "Yes."

Jason nodded slowly at her answer, though Jasmine half expected him to grow angry, "Good. I trust your judgement then," He muttered before walking up to her and gently tilted her face up to his. Before she could react, Jason pressed her lips against hers and kissed her softly for a moment before pulling back. The kiss hadn't lasted long, and hadn't given Jasmine the time to recover from the shock of being kissed. She stared at Jason, startled, and he sighed, stepping back from her.

"I don't know if the affection I feel towards you is real or not at this point. Maybe I simply yearn for someone who understands me, and what I went through, and you happen to be the only one. Perhaps it is just a common case of lust. Either way, I don't deny my feelings. But, I know that you are with Dick and, from the looks of it, are happy with him. I just wanted to do that once," He murmured. Jason gave a small smile and rubbed the back of his neck. Jasmine's lips were parted, and she had no idea what to say.

"Did you just _kiss_ my girlfriend?"

Jasmine jumped at the abrupt voice, looking over and seeing Dick standing at the doorway. Immediately, her face flushed darkly while Jason simply looked almost smug about the entire thing, "Yup. Afraid I'll steal her, Dickhead?" Jason spoke up indifferently.

"Not in a long shot, Jaybird," Dick responded, a light smile coming over him. If Jasmine were to guess, he hadn't expected Jason to really speak with him. At least, not in that manner. Jasmine saw the frown that came over Jason, who turned away from her after meeting her eyes one more time and stalked past Dick.

"Don't call me that."

Jasmine heard Dick give a light sigh as Jason disappeared inside of the house. His eyes were trained on the way Jason had left before redirecting towards Jasmine. As he met her eyes, her blush darkened even more, and her heart raced, hoping that he didn't take the whole Jason kissing her badly. Instead of seeming mad, he walked over to her relatively nonchalantly. Much to Jasmine's surprise, he didn't seem too upset about the small kiss Jason had given her. In fact, he didn't seem upset about it at all.

"How was the talk?" He asked her.

"It went well…um…about the kiss…" Jasmine began awkwardly. Dick smile, gently resting his hands on her hips and pulling her towards him.

"Don't worry about. I know he kissed you, and I also heard what he said after it. It's not a huge deal. If it happens again though, then I'll really need to throw down," He said with a wide grin. Jasmine's worries melted at his lighthearted tone of voice and she laughed lightly before wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his. Dick kissed her deeply and passionately for a moment before slowly drawing back, pressing his forehead against hers.

"What was that for?" He breathed to her softly, and Jasmine smiled warmly.

"Do I need a reason?"

"Well…no," Dick chuckled before pulling back a little and peering into her eyes, "I have a question for you."

"Alright, ask away," Jasmine responded, meeting his eyes and becoming more serious.

"I was thinking. Once your back heals and you get back up to your original strength, maybe you could come live with me in Bludhaven," He breathed out softly as he gazed into her eyes.

Jasmine's eyes widened at the offer before she smiled widely, "I would love to live with you in Bludhaven, Dick."

Dick beamed at her answer before kissing her deeply once again. Jasmine kissed him back lovingly. Never would she have imagined that they would have ended up together once again. It amazed her how much had changed in such a little amount of time. She went from hating Dick's very existence to loving every last part of him. She went from being cold and mean to being herself. Red Hood ended up being Jason Todd, who everyone had believed to be dead. She knew that he had a long struggle ahead of him, but she was also confident that he would end up being okay. Tim became Robin, and is going to continue to grow and become the best that he can be. Gotham was, once again, saved. At least, for now. Jasmine didn't know what was ahead of her in the future, but she did know one thing. She and Dick would face it.

Together.

 **That is the end of Crimson Revenge. I hope you all liked it! This was a really fun story to write, even though it did have its rough patches in chapter completion. Thank all of you so much for following this story till the end and reading it.**

 **So, this now raises the question on what I will write next. I was between two options. I have a possible idea for a third book focusing around Dick and Jasmine. It would be the last in the Light and Dark series, since I planned on making it into a trilogy. I could begin this story, OR take a break from Dick and Jasmine and start a whole different story line. Same universe, but different main characters. I won't tell you guys the basis of this new story, since I want it to be a surprise for when I do write it. So, please tell me which one you guys want! The third in the Light and Dark Trilogy, or the first in a whole new series. Either post your choice in the review section of this story, or PM me. On May 30** **th** **, whichever one has the most support will be the one I will write.**

 **Once again, thank you so much!**

 **-Bookreader777**


	18. Author's Note

Well, May 30th is here. My next story will be the new trilogy(?) I plan to write. At least, the first book. I guess I'll just have to see how that one goes. Anyways, I hope you guys will like it! I hope to have the first chapter finished within the week, or next week. Thank you everyone for your support, and I hope you'll like the next story I have in mind!-Bookreader777


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